Combining Big Data and Thick Data to Improve Services Delivery - Ang, Yuen Yuen (IBM Center for The Business of Government, 2018)

Combating Wildlife Trafficking Cross-Mission Learning Agenda - Present, Teresa; Peabody, Shawn (USAID, 2017)

Combating Wildlife Trafficking Case Study Compilation: Capacity Building for Enforcement and Prosecution - USAID (2018)

Collective intelligence and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals - Mulgan, Geoff (nesta, 2018)
Collective intelligence and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

Collective Impact - Kania, John; Kramer, Mark (Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2011)
Large-scale social change requires broad cross-sector coordination, not the isolated intervention of individual organizations.

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.

Collaborative Outcome Mapping - Dart, J.; Roberts, M. (Better Evaluation, 2014)
Collaborative Outcomes Reporting (COR) is a participatory approach to impact evaluation based around a performance story that presents evidence of how a program has contributed to outcomes and impacts, that is then reviewed by both technical experts and program stakeholders, which may include community members. Collaborative Outcomes Reporting (COR) is a participatory approach to impact evaluation based around a performance story that presents evidence of how a program has contributed to outcomes and impacts, that is then reviewed by both technical experts and program stakeholders, which may include community members. Developed by Jess Dart, COR combines contribution analysis andMultiple Lines and Levels of Evidence (MLLE), mapping existing data and additional data against the program logic to produce a performance story. Performance story reports are essentially a short report about how a program contributed to outcomes. Although they may vary in content and format, most are short, mention program context and aims, relate to a plausible results chain, and are backed by empirical evidence (Dart and Mayne, 2005). The aim is to tell the ‘story’ of a program’s performance using multiple-lines of evidence. COR adds processes of review by an expert panel and stakeholders, sometimes including community members, to check for the credibility of the evidence about what impacts have occurred and the extent to which these can be credibly attributed to the intervention. It is these components of expert panel review (outcomes panel) and a collaborative approach to developing outcomes (through summit workshops) that differentiate COR from other approaches to outcome and impact evaluation.

Collaborative geomatics and the Mushkegowuk Cree First Nations: Fostering adaptive capacity for community-based sub-arctic natural resource management - McCarthy, Daniel D. P.; Whitelaw, Graham S.; Anderson, Scott; Cowan, Donald; McGarry, Fred; Robins, Anthony; Gardner, Holly L.; Barbeau, Christine D.; Charania, Nadia A.; General, Zachariah; Liedtke, Jeff; Sutherland, Celine; et al. (Geoforum, 2012)
The remote First Nation (FN) communities of the Mushkegowuk Territory on the west coast of James Bay, Ontario, Canada are currently facing increased development pressures and the imposition of a government land use planning process. The land use planning process is mandated in the Far North Act (received Royal Assent on September 23, 2010). There is a need for capacity enhancement for community-based natural resource planning and management in the Territory. A number of frameworks are emerging for addressing change brought on by resource development and building resilience to such change at the community level. Among these include the concept of adaptive capacity. In collaboration with FN community leaders, we explored the use of “collaborative geomatics” tools to foster adaptive capacity. Our action research suggests that collaborative geomatics technologies should enhance the Mushkegowuk First Nations’ adaptive capacity to address environmental and policy change by allowing them to collect and manage data collaboratively (e.g., traditional environmental knowledge, western science) to create opportunities for innovative community development, including natural resource development and management.
Keywords: Adaptive capacity; Collaborative geomatics; Community development; Cree communities; Land use plans

Collaboration for Impact (2018)
The site seeks to accelerate the adoption of system collaboration and Collective Impact in Australia. It does so by creating knowledge, network and tools; shining a light on successful Collective Impact initiatives; and building an Australian community of practice.

Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting Framework & Key Concepts (Implementing Partner Version 1) - USAID LEARN (USAID, 2022)
Although collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) are not new to USAID and its implementing partners, 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 into planning and design processes throughout the Program Cycle in order to improve their effectiveness; and - Enabling Conditions: how an organization’s culture, daily operating 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.

Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting. Framework & Key Concepts - Learning Lab (USAID, 2016)

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.

Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) Maturity Spectrum (v7) - USAID LEARN (USAID, 2022)
USAID’s Bureau for Policy, Planning and Learning (PPL) and its support mechanism, LEARN, have developed a Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) Framework and Maturity tool to help USAID missions think more deliberately about how to plan for and implement CLA approaches that fit the mission’s context and assist them in achieving their development objectives. While the tool is intended primarily for USAID audiences to be used in participatory self-assessment workshops, the CLA Framework and maturity spectrum are relevant to a wider audience. USAID’s CLA Framework identifies key components and subcomponents of daily work that may be opportunities for intentional, systematic, and resourced CLA. The framework recognizes the diversity of what CLA can look like in various organizations and programs 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. Recognizing that CLA is not binary—it’s not an issue of “doing it or not doing it”—PPL and LEARN have developed a spectrum of practice for each of the 16 subcomponents in the framework. The spectrum offers examples of what integration might look like at different stages: Not Yet Present, Emergent, Expanding, Advanced and Institutionalized. The maturity stage descriptions are only illustrative and are intended to spark reflection on current practice and opportunities for improvements. In this resource, each CLA subcomponent page describes the key concepts for that topic and includes a description of the maturity stages. Although the descriptions were originally developed for USAID, the majority of the concepts easily transfer or have equivalents in the partner community. For example, although organizations outside of USAID may not hold “Portfolio Reviews” (part of the Pause & Reflect subcomponent), the majority hold some type of meeting to review programmatic progress. This is the seventh version of the CLA Framework and maturity spectrum. PPL and LEARN will continue reviewed and periodically update them based on user feedback, so if you have comments about the content, please email learning@usaid.gov. We would also love to hear how you’ve used this content with your team or organization.

Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) - Maturity Matrix Overview - USAID (Policy, Planning and Learning, 2016)
Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) involves strategic collaboration, continuous learning, and adaptive management. CLA approaches to development include collaborating intentionally with stakeholders to share knowledge and reduce duplication of effort, learning systematically by drawing on evidence from a variety of sources and taking time to reflect on implementation, and applying learning by adapting intentionally. The purpose of the maturity matrix tool is to help USAID Missions think more deliberately about how to plan for and implement CLA approaches that fit the Mission’s context and needs. Through a set of easy-to-use cards, the CLA maturity matrix offers examples of what CLA looks like at different stages of maturity. USAID staff can use the decks of cards to both assess current practice and plan for the future. The maturity matrix consists of two decks of cards corresponding to the dimensions of CLA: ● CLA in the Program Cycle: By using the matrix cards to guide a conversation, teams can explore how well CLA is incorporated into the planning and implementation processes of the Program Cycle. ● Enabling Conditions: The cards encourage discussion of the conditions that can significantly influence how CLA and the Program Cycle are implemented at a Mission, including operating processes, organizational culture, and resourcing. Within these decks, the matrix covers 16 subcomponents of CLA. Each has one key concept card and five matrix cards that describe the component in practice, along a spectrum ranging from Not Yet Present to Institutionalized.

Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA). Framework and Maturity Matrix Overview - Learning Lab (USAID, 2016)

Collaborate Learn Adapt - Case Competition - USAID (USAID Learning Lab, 2015)

Cognitive bias cheat sheet. An organized list of cognitive biases because thinking is hard - Benson, Buster (Better Humans, 2016)

Co-creating Digital Public Services for an Ageing Society: Evidence for User-centric Design - Jarke, Juliane (Springer International Publishing, 2021)
This open access book attends to the co-creation of digital public services for ageing societies. Increasingly public services are provided in digital form; their uptake however remains well below expectations. In particular, amongst older adults the need for public services is high, while at the same time the uptake of digital services is lower than the population average. One of the reasons is that many digital public services (or e-services) do not respond well to the life worlds, use contexts and use practices of its target audiences. This book argues that when older adults are involved in the process of identifying, conceptualising, and designing digital public services, these services become more relevant and meaningful.The book describes and compares three co-creation projects that were conducted in two European cities, Bremen and Zaragoza, as part of a larger EU-funded innovation project. The first part of the book traces the origins of co-creation to three distinct domains, in which co-creation has become an equally important approach with different understandings of what it is and entails: (1) the co-production of public services, (2) the co-design of information systems and (3) the civic use of open data. The second part of the book analyses how decisions about a co-creation project’s governance structure, its scope of action, its choice of methods, its alignment with strategic policies and its embedding in existing public information infrastructures impact on the process and its results. The final part of the book identifies key challenges to co-creation and provides a more general assessment of what co-creation may achieve, where the most promising areas of application may be and where it probably does not match with the contingent requirements of digital public services. Contributing to current discourses on digital citizenship in ageing societies and user-centric design, this book is useful for researchers and practitioners interested in co-creation, public sector innovation, open government, ageing and digital technologies, citizen engagement and civic participation in socio-technical innovation.

Co-Creating Digital Public Services - Jarke, Juliane (Co-creating Digital Public Services for an Ageing Society: Evidence for User-centric Design, 2021)
This chapter reviews key literature and concepts relating to the co-creation of digital public services. For this task, it is firstly important to consider what kind of digital public services may be suitable for co-creation. In order to do so, the first section of this chapter defines what a digital public service is (e.g. with respect to different types of service providers, different types of services and service delivery) and considers what kind of digital public services allow for meaningful citizen participation. To better conceptualise different degrees of participation, the subsequent section reviews Arnstein’s (1969) “ladder of citizen participation” and related work. This allows distinguishing between different degrees of non-participation, (consultative) participation and beyond. Thirdly, the chapter reviews traditional participatory approaches that provide the basis to co-creating of digital public services: (1) co-production of public services, (2) co-design and (3) civic open data use. The chapter summarises and compares the different rationales for participation in these approaches, and reviews how they understand the sharing of control, the sharing of knowledge and the enabling of change.
Keywords: Civic Tech; Co-creation; Co-design; Co-production; Digital public services; Open data; Open government; Participation; Participatory design; User-centric services; e-services

Clearing the fog: new tools for improving the credibility of impact claims - Befani, Barbara; D'Errico, Stefano; Booker, Francesca; Giuliani, Alessandra (iied Briefing Papers, 2016)
Development actors facing pressure to provide more rigorous assessments of their impact on policy and practice need new methods to deliver them. There is now a broad consensus that the traditional counterfactual analysis leading to the assessment of the net effect of an intervention is incapable of capturing the complexity of factors at play in any particular policy change. We suggest that evaluations focus instead on establishing whether a clearly-defined process of change has taken place, and improve the validity and credibility of qualitative impact statements. IIED research in Uganda shows that the methods of process tracing and Bayesian updating facilitate a dialogue between theory and evidence that allows us to assess our degree of confidence in ‘contribution claims’ in a transparent and replicable way.

CLARISSA Social Protection Intervention - Evaluation Report - Roelen, Keetie; Howard, Neil; Afroze, Jiniya; Aktar, Afrin; Ton, Giel; Huq, Lopita (Institute of Development Studies)
The CLARISSA Social Protection (SP) Cash Plus intervention represented an innovative social protection scheme for tackling social ills, including the worst forms of child labour (WFCL). The purpose of the intervention was to trial and evidence an innovative social policy intervention for tackling poverty, improving wellbeing, and addressing worst forms of child labour (WFCL). It was a universal and unconditional cash plus programme, combining community mobilisation, case work and cash transfers. It was implemented in a high-density and low-income neighbourhood in Dhaka to build individual, family, and group capacities to meet their needs. This, in turn, was expected to lead to a corresponding decrease in deprivation and community-identified social issues that negatively affect wellbeing, including WFCL.
Accepted: 2023-06-30T11:14:55Z Publisher: Institute of Development Studies

CLARISSA Cash Plus: Innovative Social Protection in Bangladesh - Roelen, Keetie; Howard, Neil; Afroze, Jiniya; Aktar, Afrin; Ton, Giel; Huq, Lopita (Institute of Development Studies, 2023)
Social protection, and cash transfers especially, have been found to have many positive impacts on families’ lives and are now widely recognised as a cornerstone of any prosperous, fair society. The CLARISSA Cash Plus intervention is an innovative social protection scheme for tackling social ills, including the worst forms of child labour (WFCL). Combining community mobilisation, case work and cash transfers, it aims to support people in a poor neighbourhood in Dhaka to build their individual, family, and group capacities to meet their needs. An increase in capacities is expected to lead to a corresponding decrease in deprivation and community-identified social issues that negatively affect wellbeing, including WFCL.
Accepted: 2023-06-30T11:14:55Z Publisher: Institute of Development Studies

CLA Maturity Tool: Example Spectrum Cards - USAID (2016)

CLA Maturity Tool - Card Deck (Implementing Partners version 1) - USAID LEARN (USAID, 2022)
USAID’s Bureau for Policy, Planning and Learning (PPL) and its support mechanism, LEARN, have developed a Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) Framework and Maturity tool to help USAID missions think more deliberately about how to plan for and implement CLA approaches that fit the mission’s context and assist them in achieving their development objectives. While the tool is intended primarily for USAID audiences to be used in participatory self-assessment workshops, the CLA Framework and maturity spectrum are relevant to a wider audience. USAID’s CLA Framework identifies key components and subcomponents of daily work that may be opportunities for intentional, systematic, and resourced CLA. The framework recognizes the diversity of what CLA can look like in various organizations and programs 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. Recognizing that CLA is not binary—it’s not an issue of “doing it or not doing it”—PPL and LEARN have developed a spectrum of practice for each of the 16 subcomponents in the framework. The spectrum offers examples of what integration might look like at different stages: Not Yet Present, Emergent, Expanding, Advanced and Institutionalized. The maturity stage descriptions are only illustrative and are intended to spark reflection on current practice and opportunities for improvements. In this resource, each CLA subcomponent page describes the key concepts for that topic and includes a description of the maturity stages. Although the descriptions were originally developed for USAID, the majority of the concepts easily transfer or have equivalents in the partner community. For example, although organizations outside of USAID may not hold “Portfolio Reviews” (part of the Pause & Reflect subcomponent), the majority hold some type of meeting to review programmatic progress. This is the seventh version of the CLA Framework and maturity spectrum. PPL and LEARN will continue reviewed and periodically update them based on user feedback, so if you have comments about the content, please email learning@usaid.gov. We would also love to hear how you’ve used this content with your team or organization.

CLA for More Effective Development Programs (video) - USAID (USAID LearningLab, 2014)
This presentation features USAID/PPL's Stacey Young discussing the history of learning at USAID; how collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) can enhance development outcomes, and the role of implementing partners in supporting this vision.

Civil society organizations and managerialism: On the depoliticization of the adaptive management agenda - Gutheil, Lena; Koch, Dirk-Jan (Development Policy Review, 2022)
Motivation In the last decade, a movement formed around making aid delivery more adaptive, relying on principles such as context sensitivity, flexibility, and ownership. The approaches seem promising for civil society organizations (CSOs) to fulfil their mission of fostering social transformation. While several donor agencies have started engaging with such approaches, the authors hardly see their political implications in practice. Purpose The article aims to provide evidence on an adaptive project and demonstrate how the social transformative and political nature of adaptive development management is rendered technical and depoliticized in practice. Methods and approach We use a case study of a development programme based on a social transformative policy framework that is implemented through CSOs in Uganda and Vietnam. Data were collected by means of interviews, participant observation and document analysis. Findings We find that, in practice, the social transformative policy framework is competing with managerial logics. We compare this process with the depoliticization of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, finding striking similarities. By using practice theory, we show how managerialism remains the dominant paradigm in the civil society aid sector, fuelling the “anti-politics machine.” Policy implications The article shows that policy frameworks do not always work as intended. Donors should therefore not only change policy frameworks, but also start addressing institutional and operational requirements.
_eprint: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/dpr.12630

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 (Fundación Avina & Omidyar Network, 2016)
Keywords: IMPORTANT

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.

Citizens Against Corruption: Report from the Front Line - Landell-Mills, Pierre (Matador, 2013)
Citizens Against Corruption: Report From The Front Line tells the story of how groups of courageous and dedicated citizens across the globe are taking direct action to root out corruption. It shows how people are no longer prepared to accept the predatory activities of dishonest officials and are challenging their scams. It draws on over 200 unique case studies that describe initiatives undertaken by 130 civil society organisations (CSOs) which engage directly with public agencies to stop the bribery and extortion that damages peoples' lives and obstructs social and economic progress. This book challenges the notion that, at best, civil society can only have a marginal impact on reducing corruption and argues that aid donors need to radically rethink their assistance for governance reform. Part 1 analyses the role citizens can play in fighting corruption and promoting good governance and briefly tells the story of the Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF). Part 2 presents studies of India, Mongolia, Philippines, and Uganda - each with its unique history and distinctive circumstances - to illustrate activities undertaken by CSOs to root out corruption, including the tools and approaches that are being used to build pressure on corrupt public agencies to become transparent and accountable. Part 3 addresses key themes - strengthening the rule of law, putting in place effective national anti-corruption strategies and institutions, making public buying and selling honest, promoting grassroots monitoring of public expenditures and the provision of public services, mounting media campaigns to expose and defeat corruption, and empowering ordinary citizens to keep watch on what actually happens at the point of delivery of public services. Part 4 is a summary of lessons learnt and explores the potential, as well as the risks and limitations, of civic activism in a world where greed and dishonesty is the norm. Finally, the book explores the opportunities and dangers faced by aid donors in supporting local CSOs and charts a way forward. Citizens Against Corruption: Report From The Front Line will be of interest to staff working in CSOs and aid agencies, policy analysts and researchers concerned about corruption and poor governance.

Citizen science in hydrology and water resources: opportunities for knowledge generation, ecosystem service management, and sustainable development - Buytaert, Wouter; Zulkafli, Zed; Grainger, Sam; Acosta, Luis; Alemie, Tilashwork C.; Bastiaensen, Johan; De Bièvre, Bert; Bhusal, Jagat; Clark, Julian; Dewulf, Art; Foggin, Marc; Hannah, David M.; et al. (Frontiers in Earth Science, 2014)
The participation of the general public in the research design, data collection and interpretation process together with scientists is often referred to as citizen science. While citizen science itself has existed since the start of scientific practice, developments in sensing technology, data processing and visualisation, and communication of ideas and results, are creating a wide range of new opportunities for public participation in scientific research. This paper reviews the state of citizen science in a hydrological context and explores the potential of citizen science to complement more traditional ways of scientific data collection and knowledge generation for hydrological sciences and water resources management. Although hydrological data collection often involves advanced technology, the advent of robust, cheap and low-maintenance sensing equipment provides unprecedented opportunities for data collection in a citizen science context. These data have a significant potential to create new hydrological knowledge, especially in relation to the characterisation of process heterogeneity, remote regions, and human impacts on the water cycle. However, the nature and quality of data collected in citizen science experiments is potentially very different from those of traditional monitoring networks. This poses challenges in terms of their processing, interpretation, and use, especially with regard to assimilation of traditional knowledge, the quantification of uncertainties, and their role in decision support. It also requires care in designing citizen science projects such that the generated data complement optimally other available knowledge. Lastly, we reflect on the challenges and opportunities in the integration of hydrologically-oriented citizen science in water resources management, the role of scientific knowledge in the decision-making process, and the potential contestation to established community institutions posed by co-generation of new knowledge.
Keywords: Citizen science; Co-generation of knowledge; Water Resources Management; hydrological sensing; poly-centric governance

Citizen Participation in Representative Democracy - Fung, Archon (Post Party Politics. Can participation reconnect people and government?, 2006)
ENTRADA CREADA PARA PODER CITAR EL CAPÍTULO

Citizen participation and the rise of the open source city in Spain - Peña-López, Ismael (MAVC & IT for Change, 2017)
Research on the Information Society, the Digital Divide and Information and Communication Technologies for development

Citizen-generated data and sustainable development - Rono-Bett, Karen; Kenei, Steve (DevInit and DRT, 2017)
The potential of citizen-generated data in the sustainable development agenda

Citizen engagement: emerging digital technologies create new risks and value - Peixoto, Tiago; Steinberg, Tom (World Bank, 2019)
The recent rapid evolution of digital technologies has been changing behaviors and expectations in countries around the world. These shifts make it the right time to pose the key question this paper explores: Will digital technologies, both those that are already widespread and those that are still emerging, have substantial impacts on the way citizens engage and the ways through which power is sought, used, or contested? The authors address this question both to mitigate some of the World Bank’s operational risks, and to initiate a conversation with peers about how those risks might require policy shifts. The overall framing question also is being explored in case theapproaches to citizen engagement advocated by the World Bank are changing and may require different advice for client countries. Despite the lower technology penetration levels in developing countries, their more malleable governance contexts may be more influenced by the effects of emerging technologies than older states with greater rigidity. Digitally influencedcitizen engagement is, in short, one of those “leapfrog” areas in which developing nations may exploit technologies before the wealthier parts of the world. But countries can leapfrog to worse futures, not just better ones. This paper explores what technology might mean for engagement, makespredictions, and offers measures for governments to consider.

Citizen-Centered Governance: The Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics and the Evolution of CRM in Boston - Crawford, Susan P.; Walters, Dana (Social Science Research Network, 2013)
Over the last three years, the Boston Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics, the innovative, collaborative ethos within City Hall fostered by Mayor Menino and h

Christian Practical Wisdom: What It Is, Why It Matters - Bass, Dorothy C.; Cahalan, Kathleen A.; McLemore, Bonnie J.; Nieman, James R.; Scharen, Christian B. (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016)
Why is the very kind of knowledge that people need to live well ― practical wisdom ― often the least understood, the hardest to learn, and the most devalued kind of knowledge?In this book five distinguished practical theologians examine the wisdom that is basic for faithful Christian living, question why it has been largely devalued, and advocate for its renewal. After first showing several concrete situations in which this kind of wisdom is visible ― marriage, church, community, culture, and more ― the authors then delve into the reasons for the decline of practical wisdom and set forth constructive cases for its renewal through biblical imagination and spiritual practice.

Chris Argyris: theories of action, double-loop learning and organizational learning - Smith, Mark K. (The encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education, 2013)
Chris Argyris: theories of action, double-loop learning and organizational learning. The work of Chris Argyris (1923-2013) has influenced thinking about the relationship of people and organizations…

Cherry-Picked Intelligence. The Weapons of Mass Destruction Dispositive as a Legitimation for National Security in the Post 9/11 Age - van der Heide, Liesbeth (Historical Social Research / Historische Sozialforschung, 2013)
»Geheimdienste mit Scheuklappen: Das Dispositiv der Massenvernichtungswaffen als Legitimation für Nationale Sicherheit nach 9/11«. The claim that Iraq possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) led to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 by the US army. For the George W. Bush administration, the likely presence of WMD in Iraq was the major justification for going to war. However, Bush' opponents suspected he used the WMD-dispositive as a legitimation for an invasion that was already set in motion for different reasons. The Iraq invasion and the underlying ideas about the presence of WMD thus provide a tangible case for the analysis of theories of conspiracy and security. The development of the WMD-dispositive will be contextualized using the toolkit of securitization theory. The article explores the notions of security and conspiracy that were used to build the dispositive and shows how it ultimately failed and turned into a counter-narrative in which the Bush administration itself became the Great Conspirator.

Chaos Report 2020 - Standish Group (Standish Group, 2020)

Chaos Report 2015 - Standish Group (Standish Group, 2015)

Changing theories - Aston, Thomas (Medium, 2023)
You may, or may not, be surprised to hear that many theories of change lack what we might generally understand as a theory.

Changing the way we change - Pascale, R.; Millemann, M.; Gioja, L. (Harvard Business Review, 1997)
More and more companies struggle with growing competition by introducing improvements into every aspect of performance. But the treadmill keeps moving faster, the companies keep working harder, and results improve slowly or not at all. The problem here is not the improvement programs. The problem is that the whole burden of change typically rests on so few people. Companies achieve real agility only when every function and process–when every person–is able and eager to rise to every challenge. This type and degree of fundamental change, commonly called revitalization or transformation, is what many companies seek but rarely achieve because they have never before identified the factors that produce sustained transformational change. The authors identify three interventions that will restore companies to vital agility and then keep them in good health: incorporating employees fully into the principal business challenges facing the company, leading the organization in a different way in order to sharpen and maintain incorporation and constructive stress, and instilling mental disciplines that will make people behave differently and then help them sustain their new behavior. The authors discovered these basic sources of revitalization by tracking the change efforts of Sears, Roebuck & Company, Royal Dutch Shell, and the United States Army. The organizations used these interventions to alter the way their people experienced their own power and identity, as well as the way they dealt with conflict and learning. As at Sears, Shell, and the U.S. Army, any major shift in those four elements will create a landmark shift in any organization's operating state or culture.
Keywords: Commerce; Conflict (Psychology); Decision Making; Organizational; Economic Competition; Leadership; Military Personnel; Organizational Culture; Organizational Innovation; Personnel Management; Power; Psychology; United States

Changing humanitarian action? - Knox-Clarke, Paul (ALNAP/ODI, 2017)
We live in times of profound change. This has had a great impact on humanitarian needs, and the approaches taken to meet these needs. Changes in technology, ecology, politics, economics and demographics have shaped, and will continue to shape, humanitarian action. Many humanitarians and observers of humanitarian action have suggested that change initiatives in the sector have been unambitious and unsuccessful. Indeed, many people think that the humanitarian system is unable, or unwilling, to make the changes that are required to remain effective and relevant in a rapidly changing world. Following the World Humanitarian Summit many stakeholders have made commitments to significant changes. But can the system change? And if so, how? As a network which exists to support change and improvement, it seems appropriate that ALNAP meets to consider how change occurs in the humanitarian system, and how it can be done better. Find out more about the 31st Annual Meeting by reading the concept note, or by visiting alnap.org/31am.

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

Changeroo - Theory of Change platform - Changeroo (2020)
Changeroo assists organisations, programs and projects with a social mission to develop and manage high-quality Theories of Change. It allows you to - together with stakeholders co-create Theories of Change, and - present these in an interactive and engaging way. It helps keep a Theory of Change alive, enables reflective monitoring, and supports capacity building among social organisations. Changeroo helps you utilize your Theory of Change for strategic learning, communication, stakeholder engagement, impact measurement, scaling, planning, monitoring and evaluation. Thus you build a culture of critical thinking, constant analysis, co-creation and continuous learning. In sum, a truly strategic approach to societal value creation that helps you to assist your target groups to flourish!

Change in challenging contexts - Williamson, Tim (ODI, 2015)
This report explores how genuine institutional change takes place in fragile and conflict-affected states reforms can be supported.

Change: How to Make Big Things Happen - Centola, Damon (Little, Brown Spark, 2021)
How to create the change you want to see in the world using the paradigm-busting ideas in this "utterly fascinating" (Adam Grant) big-idea book.​ Most of what we know about how ideas spread comes from bestselling authors who give us a compelling picture of a world, in which "influencers" are king, "sticky" ideas "go viral," and good behavior is "nudged" forward. The problem is that the world they describe is a world where information spreads, but beliefs and behaviors stay the same. When it comes to lasting change in what we think or the way we live, the dynamics are beliefs and behaviors are not transmitted from person to person in the simple way that a virus is. The real story of social change is more complex. When we are exposed to a new idea, our social networks guide our responses in striking and surprising ways. Drawing on deep-yet-accessible research and fascinating examples from the spread of coronavirus to the success of the Black Lives Matter movement, the failure of Google+, and the rise of political polarization, Change presents groundbreaking and paradigm-shifting new science for understanding what drives change, and how we can change the world around us.

Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation - Brown, Tim (HarperBusiness, 2009)
The myth of innovation is that brilliant ideas leap fully formed from the minds of geniuses. The reality is that most innovations come from a process of rigorous examination through which great ideas are identified and developed before being realized as new offerings and capabilities. This book introduces the idea of design thinking‚ the collaborative process by which the designer′s sensibilities and methods are employed to match people′s needs not only with what is technically feasible and a viable business strategy. In short‚ design thinking converts need into demand. It′s a human−centered approach to problem solving that helps people and organizations become more innovative and more creative. Design thinking is not just applicable to so−called creative industries or people who work in the design field. It′s a methodology that has been used by organizations such as Kaiser Permanente to increase the quality of patient care by re−examining the ways that their nurses manage shift change‚ or Kraft to rethink supply chain management. This is not a book by designers for designers; this is a book for creative leaders seeking to infuse design thinking into every level of an organization‚ product‚ or service to drive new alternatives for business and society.
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Challenging the Boundaries of the Possible: Participation, Knowledge and Power - Gaventa, John; Cornwall, Andrea (IDS Bulletin, 2006)

Challenge-led Innovation Workbook. Organising for Systems Innovation at Scale - Burkett, Ingrid (Griffith Centre for Systems Innovation, 2023)
Organising for Systems Innovation at Scale Our team at Griffith Centre for Systems Innovation have been experimenting with and evolving a Challenge-led Innovation Approach (based on Mission-oriented approaches developed by Mariana Mazzucato at UCL IIPP and others internationally). We are using this approach to guide the way we work internally and engage with our systems innovation partners. We’ve facilitated intensive Re:Treats, worked with government bodies, businesses and civic organisations, and engaged deeply with others exploring this work. We have a bias for developing and testing HOW such approaches could be applied to respond to both local and global challenges rather than getting too caught up in the what and why of such approaches. We decided to openly share our learnings and thinking to date in this workbook, to spark conversations and innovation in both practice and thinking amongst those exploring how we work, and to learn together to address complex systems and challenges. We see this booklet as a first step in a longer learning journey. In it we share an overview of: the principles and processes that sparked our evolution to a Challenge-led Innovation framework (from Mission-oriented). examples of our learnings from other system innovators who are experimenting. an adaptable process to help guide the learning journey. learning tools and canvases to catalyse thinking, practice, and further adaptations. Part One sets out some foundations we’ve identified as important to Challenge-led Innovation. If you want to jump straight into the mapping process, we suggest you skip to Part Two. The final section, Part Three, focuses on what we have learnt about the conditions needed and how to get started on a Challenge-led initiative.

Challenge-led Innovation: Organising for Systems Innovation at Scale - Burkett, Ingrid

Center for Theory of Change (Theory of Change Community)

Celebrating Adaptive Delivery: A View from the Frontline in Myanmar - Barnes, Katrina; Lonsdale, Jane (IDS, 2023)
The conversation on adaptive management has grown fast amongst development actors. These conversations often focus on designing, commissioning, and managing large-scale development programmes. Exactly how this impacts the frontline, the implementers, and day-to-day project delivery is still being debated. Yet, perspectives drawn directly from practice are often largely missing within these debates. This paper is written by two development practitioners. Through this paper, we reflect on the difference between adaptive management and adaptive delivery, and how this interacts with risk and aid accountability, particularly in contexts of fragility. Drawing on examples of Oxfam in Myanmar work and our personal insights in relation to delivering programming across humanitarian, peace-building, and development, we suggest that in complex, conflict-affected, and highly political environments adaptive delivery already happens far more regularly than is currently recognised, as a necessity to get activities delivered. However, it happens despite the system, not because of it, and is therefore often hidden and carried out ‘under the radar’ rather than celebrated as a success in difficult environments. This paper was written in 2019, before the military seized control of Myanmar in February 2021. Whilst it draws on examples from pre-2021 Myanmar to illustrate real life cases, it is a contribution to a broader global debate on adaptive management in practice, specifically in fragile contexts. This is not specifically aimed at practitioners working in Myanmar at present, who are now working in a protracted crisis. This paper makes tangible recommendations on steps that donors, international non-governmental organisations, local staff, and partners could take to promote a system of encouraging and celebrating adaptability in programme delivery in fragile contexts.
Accepted: 2023-02-02T14:48:03Z Publisher: Institute of Development Studies

Causality and attribution in market systems development - Jenal, Marcus; Liesner, Mollie (BEAM, 2017)
Resources that contain evidence of market systems interventions. Recently updated.

Causal mapping for evaluators - Powell, Steve; Copestake, James; Remnant, Fiona (Evaluation, 2023)
Evaluators are interested in capturing how things causally influence one another. They are also interested in capturing how stakeholders think things causally i...
Publisher: SAGE PublicationsSage UK: London, England

Causal Loop Diagrams: Little Known Analytical Tool | iSixSigma - Rushing, William (2010)
The causal loop diagram is an analytical tool that is seldom used in Six Sigma but nonetheless is still very valuable. It is a foundational tool used in system dynamics, a method of analysis used to develop an understanding of complex systems.

Causal Link Monitoring - Better Evaluation (Better Evaluation)
Causal Link Monitoring (CLM) integrates design and monitoring to support adaptive management of projects. CLM helps project planners and managers identify the processes that are required to achieve desired results, and then to observe whether those processes take place, and how. Result-producing processes specify the causal links between results in a logic model or results framework—in other words, the processes between results. CLM focuses on how specific individuals or organizations use one result to achieve another result. Steps in Causal Link Monitoring In CLM, planners start by creating a logic model to help document predictable, agreed-upon elements of the project. Next, they refine the causal links by describing the processes that will transform results at one point in the causal chain to the next. Planners are often less certain about these result-producing processes. Finally, the CLM logic model is enhanced with information about two important sources of uncertainty, contextual factors that may influence the project and diverse perspectives on the problem and its solution. The process can be broken down into seven steps, three for project design, three for monitoring, and a final step in which monitoring data informs redesign: Build a logic model. Identify assumptions about causal links. Enhance the logic model with diverse perspectives and contextual factors. Prioritize areas of observation. Collect monitoring data. Interpret and use monitoring data for adaptive management. Revise the logic model.

Causal Link Monitoring - Britt, Heather; Hummelbrunner, Richard; Greene, Jacqueline (2017)
Causal Link Monitoring (CLM) 1 integrates design and monitoring to support adaptive management of projects. CLM helps project planners and managers identify the processes that are required to achieve desired results, and then to observe whether those processes take place, and how. Result-producing processes specify the causal links between results in a logic model or results framework—in other words, the processes between results.2 CLM focuses on how specific individuals or organizations use results to achieve other results. In CLM, planners start by creating a logic model to help document predictable, agreed-upon elements of the project. Next, they refine the causal links by describing the processes that will transform results at one point in the causal chain to the next. Planners are often less certain about these resultproducing processes. Finally, the CLM logic model is enhanced with information about two important sources of uncertainty, contextual factors that may influence the project and diverse perspectives on the problem and its solution.

Causal inferences on the effectiveness of complex social programs: Navigating assumptions, sources of complexity and evaluation design challenges - Chatterji, Madhabi (Evaluation and Program Planning, 2016)
This paper explores avenues for navigating evaluation design challenges posed by complex social programs (CSPs) and their environments when conducting studies that call for generalizable, causal inferences on the intervention’s effectiveness. A definition is provided of a CSP drawing on examples from different fields, and an evaluation case is analyzed in depth to derive seven (7) major sources of complexity that typify CSPs, threatening assumptions of textbook-recommended experimental designs for performing impact evaluations. Theoretically-supported, alternative methodological strategies are discussed to navigate assumptions and counter the design challenges posed by the complex configurations and ecology of CSPs. Specific recommendations include: sequential refinement of the evaluation design through systems thinking, systems-informed logic modeling; and use of extended term, mixed methods (ETMM) approaches with exploratory and confirmatory phases of the evaluation. In the proposed approach, logic models are refined through direct induction and interactions with stakeholders. To better guide assumption evaluation, question-framing, and selection of appropriate methodological strategies, a multiphase evaluation design is recommended.
Keywords: Causal inferences; Complex social programs; Experimental designs; Impact evaluations; Mixed methods

“Cash Plus” programmes for children - Save the Children (Save the Children, 2017)
This paper provides a resource on “Cash Plus” interventions for children. These interventions combine household cash transfers with complementary, context-relevant interventionsn in order to address the multiple drivers of childhood deprivations and generate more powerful impacts for children across Save the Children’s Breakthroughs, in both development and humanitarian contexts.

Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods - Yin, Dr Robert K. (SAGE Publications, Inc, 2018)
Winner of the 2019 McGuffey Longevity Award from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA) Recognized as one of the most cited methodology books in the social sciences, the Sixth Edition of Robert K. Yin′s bestselling text provides a complete portal to the world of case study research. With the integration of 11 applications in this edition, the book gives readers access to exemplary case studies drawn from a wide variety of academic and applied fields. Ultimately, Case Study Research and Applications will guide students in the successful use and application ofthe case study research method.

Case study - Lepra - Adaptive programming in “reaching the unreached” - UK Aid Direct (DFID, 2017)

Case Study Evaluations - United States General Accounting Office (GAO, 1990)
his guide from the US General Accounting Office outlines good practice in case study evaluation and establishes a set of principles for applying case studies to evaluations. The paper outlines new ways of thinking about case studies and examines the methodology necessary to get the best from a case study analysis.

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

Case Study - Better Evaluation (Better Evaluation)
A case study focuses on a particular unit - a person, a site, a project. It often uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative data. Case studies can be particularly useful for understanding how different elements fit together and how different elements (implementation, context and other factors) have produced the observed impacts. There are different types of case studies, which can be used for different purposes in evaluation. The GAO (Government Accountability Office) has described six different types of case study: 1. Illustrative: This is descriptive in character and intended to add realism and in-depth examples to other information about a program or policy. (These are often used to complement quantitative data by providing examples of the overall findings). 2. Exploratory: This is also descriptive but is aimed at generating hypotheses for later investigation rather than simply providing illustration. 3. Critical instance: This examines a single instance of unique interest, or serves as a critical test of an assertion about a program, problem or strategy. 4. Program implementation. This investigates operations, often at several sites, and often with reference to a set of norms or standards about implementation processes. 5. Program effects. This examines the causal links between the program and observed effects (outputs, outcomes or impacts, depending on the timing of the evaluation) and usually involves multisite, multimethod evaluations. 6. Cumulative. This brings together findings from many case studies to answer evaluative questions.

Case studies of results-based management by providers: World Bank Group - OECD (OECD, 2017)

Case studies of results-based management by providers: United Kingdom - OECD (OECD, 2017)

Case studies of results-based management by providers: The Netherlands - OECD (OECD, 2017)

Case studies of results-based management by providers: Switzerland - OECD (OECD, 2017)

Case studies of results-based management by providers: Sweden - OECD (OECD, 2017)

Case studies of results-based management by providers: New Zealand - OECD (OECD, 2017)

Case studies of results-based management by providers: Canada - OECD (OECD, 2017)

Caracterizando la participación ciudadana en el marco del Gobierno Abierto - Prieto-Martín, Pedro; Ramírez-Alujas, Álvaro V. (Revista del CLAD. Reforma y Democracia, 2014)
Este artículo profundiza conceptualmente en las dimensiones del Gobierno Abierto, centrándose en el análisis y caracterización de su dimensión participativa. Se propone, en primer lugar, una tipología de actos participativos que muestra el efecto potenciador que las TIC ejercen sobre las distintas formas de participación. En segundo lugar, se presentan los denominados “Esquemas de participación” (EdP), un instrumento conceptual que facilita el análisis y la representación estandarizada de las dimensiones más importantes de la participación. Los EdP proporcionan así, por un lado, un modelo de categorización que extiende nuestra comprensión crítica de la participación y, por otro lado, una herramienta potente y flexible para la comunicación, el diseño y la evaluación de diversos tipos de iniciativas participativas.

Capacity Works - online training - GIZ (GIZ, 2014)

Capacity WORKS - GIZ (2014)
One of GIZ’s core competencies is understanding how cooperation works in societies, and supporting that process. The kind of process we mean is cooperation between state, civil society and private-sector actors who wish to jointly shape societal changes. GIZ has systematised its knowledge on how to achieve this, and made it available in the Capacity WORKS management model. The model describes how to manage cooperation systems.

Capacity Development in a Participatory Adaptive Programme: the Case of the Clarissa Consortium - Widmer, Mireille; Apgar, Marina; Afroze, Jiniya; Malla, Sudhir; Healey, Jill; Constant, Sendrine (IDS, 2022)
Doing development differently rests on deliberate efforts to reflect and learn, not just about what programmes are doing and achieving, but about how they are working. This is particularly important for an action research programme like Child Labour: Action- Research-Innovation in South and South-Eastern Asia (CLARISSA), which is implemented by a consortium of organisations from across the research and development spectrum, during a rapidly changing global pandemic. Harnessing the potential of diverse skills and complementary strengths across partners in responding to the complex challenge of the worst forms of child labour, requires capacity to work together in novel ways. This Research and Evidence Paper documents how CLARISSA approached capacity development, and what we learnt from our challenges and successes. From the start, the programme incorporated a capacity development strategy resting on self-assessment of a wide range of behavioural and technical competencies that were deemed important for programme implementation, formal training activities, and periodic review of progress through an after-action review (AAR) process. An inventory of capacity development activities that took place during the first year of implementation reveals a wide range of additional, unplanned activities, enabled by the programme’s flexibility and adaptive management strategy. These are organised into eight modalities, according to the individual or collective nature of the activity, and its sequencing – namely, whether capacity development happens prior to, during, or after (from) implementation. We conclude with some reflections on the emergent nature of capacity development. Planning capacity development in an adaptive programme provides a scaffolding in terms of time, resources, and legitimacy that sustains adaptiveness. We also recognise the gaps that remain to be addressed, particularly on scaling up individual learning to collective capabilities, and widening the focus from implementation teams to individuals working at consortium level.
Accepted: 2022-04-25T10:25:54Z Publisher: Institute of Development Studies

Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy - GAC (Global Affairs Canada, 2017)

Can we know better? Reflections for Development - Chambers, Robert (Practical Action, 2017)
This book is intended for all who are committed to human wellbeing and who want to make our world fairer, safer and more fulfilling for everyone, especially those who are 'last'. It argues that to do better we need to know better. It provides evidence that what we believe we know in international development is often distorted or unbalanced by errors, myths, biases and blind spots. Undue weight has been attached to standardised methodologies such as randomized control trials, systematic reviews, and competitive bidding: these are shown to have huge transaction costs which are rarely if ever recognized in their enormity. Robert Chambers contrasts a Newtonian paradigm in which the world is seen and understood as controllable with a paradigm of complexity which recognizes that the real world of social processes and power relations is messy and unpredictable. To confront the challenges of complex and emergent realities requires a revolutionary new professionalism. This is underpinned by a new combination of canons of rigour expressed through eclectic methodological pluralism and participatory approaches which reverse and transform power relations. Promising developments include rapid innovations in participatory ICTs, participatory statistics, and the Reality Check Approach with its up-to-date and rigorously grounded insights. Fundamental to the new professionalism, in every country and context, are reflexivity, facilitation, groundtruthing, and personal mindsets, behaviour, attitudes, empathy and love. Robert Chambers surveys the past world of international development, and his own past views, with an honest and critical eye, and then launches into the world of complexity with a buoyant enthusiasm. He draws on almost six decades of experience in varied roles in Africa, South Asia and elsewhere as practitioner, trainer, manager, teacher, evaluator and field researcher, also working in UNHCR and the Ford Foundation. He is a Research Associate and Emeritus Professor at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, his base for many years. Can We Know Better? is essential reading for researchers and students of development, for policy makers and evaluators, and for all those working towards the better world of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Can’t See the Wood For the Logframe: Integrating Logframes and Theories of Change in Development Evaluation - Freer, Gordon; Lemire, Sebastian (Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation, 2019)
There are numerous ways in which to model the underlying theory of programs. In the context of international development evaluation, the most ubiquitous are likely “logframes” and to some extent “theories of change,” both of which may serve to guide program development and management, monitoring, and evaluation. While logframes and theories of change are often developed in parallel, they are rarely fully integrated in their practical application. Drawing on lessons from a recent theory-based evaluation, this article argues that fully integrating the program theory of change within the program logframe provides for a stronger and more holistic understanding of program progress.

Can SMS-Mobilization Increase Citizen Reporting of Public Service Deficiencies to Politicians? - Grossman, Guy; Michelitch, Kristin; Santamaria, Marta (2015)

Can policy-makers think like designers? - Adler, Natalia (2014)
This is the poster used by Natalia Adler, from Unicef, at the Doing Development Differently workshop in 2014. Can policy-makers think like designers? Since 2012, UNICEF has been supporting two autonomous governments in Nicaragua to develop empathy-driven policies for children. While policies are the final product, the goal of the Designing for Children Initiative is to make government officials think like designers. A good policy or service is nothing without active and engaged frontline workers. From the onset, our objective was to transform public employees into ‘public entrepreneurs.’ In doing so, we have disrupted the traditional assumptions about participatory governance, where it normally suffices to hold a meeting and have people talk about their needs and aspirations. For participation to work, government officials have to relearn how to listen. They have to let go of pre-determined assumptions and their expert status, and put themselves in the shoes of the people they are trying to reach. This is the process of empathy-driven policy-making. For the past two years, we have used a Human Centered Design (HCD) approach to make this happen. While HCD is often seen as an innovation in itself, for us, it’s just a means to an end: common-sense development.

Can PDIA become a regular part of how a government works? - Building State Capability - Harrington, Peter (Building State Capability, 2022)
Institutional change is part of the theory of change of PDIA – scaling through the diffusion of new ways of thinking and greater problem-solving know-how. And once a community of practice reaches critical mass across an eco-system, a tipping point can happen where the eco-system becomes generally more open to novelty, where success is a more effective route to legitimacy, and where leadership is oriented towards value creation.

Calvin and Hobbes on Learning - Wattersho, Bill (1995)

Calibrating conservation: new tools for measuring success - Kapos, Valerie; Balmford, Andrew; Aveling, Rosalind; Bubb, Philip; Carey, Peter; Entwistle, Abigail; Hopkins, John; Mulliken, Teresa; Safford, Roger; Stattersfield, Alison; Walpole, Matt; Manica, Andrea (Conservation Letters, 2008)
Conservation practitioners, policy makers, and donors agree that there is an urgent need to identify which conservation approaches are most likely to succeed in order to use more effectively the limited resources available for conservation. While recently developed standards of good practice in conservation are helpful, a framework for evaluation is needed that supports systematic analysis of conservation effectiveness. A conceptual framework and scorecard developed by the Cambridge Conservation Forum help to address common constraints to evaluating conservation success: unclear objectives, ineffective information management, the long time frames of conservation outcomes, scarcity of resources for evaluation, and lack of incentives for such evaluation. For seven major categories of conservation activity, the CCF tools help clarify conservation objectives and provide a standardized framework that is a useful basis for managing information about project outcomes and existing conservation experience. By identifying key outcomes that can predict conservation success and can be assessed in relatively short time frames, they help to make more efficient use of scarce monitoring and evaluation resources. With wide application, the CCF framework and evaluation tool can provide a powerful platform for drawing on the experience of past and ongoing conservation projects to identify quantitatively factors that contribute to conservation success.
Keywords: Conservation effect; Conservation outcomes; Evaluation; Evidence-based conservation; Monitoring; conservation impact; framework; indicators; scorecard

Calibrating adaptive programming across multi-country, multi-partner programs - Gray, Stephen; Carl, Andy (Adapt Peacebuilding, 2019)
This past week Andy Carl and I joined the international NGO Christian Aid Ireland team in Dublin to reflect on progress in a key feature of their work - adaptive programming. This post presents what Andy Carl and I learned in reflecting this week with the international NGO Christian Aid Ireland r

Caja de Herramientas PDIA - Un enfoque “hazlo tú mismo” para resolver problemas complejos - Samji, Salimah; Andrews, Matt; Pritchett, Lant; Woolcock, MIchael (Center for International Development at Harvard University, 2018)
(Spanish version of he PDIA toolkit) The PDIAtoolkit is designed to guide you through the process of solving complex problems which requires working in teams. We call it a Do-it-Yourself (DIY) kit, where the ‘you’ is a committed team of 4-6 people mobilized to work together to solve a complex problem that cannot be solved by one person.

Buzzwords and fuzzwords: deconstructing development discourse - Cornwall, Andrea (Development in Practice, 2007)

Buzzing Communities: How to build bigger, better, and more active online communities - Millington, Richard (Feverbee, 2012)
How to Build Bigger, Better, and More Active Online CommunitiesBuzzing Communities cuts through the fluff to offer a clear process for creating thriving online communities. This book combines a century of proven science, dozens of real-life examples, practical tips, and trusted community-building methods. This step-by-step guide includes a lifecycle for tracking your progress and a framework for managing your organization's community efforts. This Book Will Help You to Understand what the members of your community really want. Dramatically increase the number of newcomers that become regulars. Avoid the mistakes most organizations make when they try to build online communities. Develop a fantastic, user-friendly website for your members. Grow your online community to critical mass and beyond Keep members engaged and active in your community. Measure the community's return on investment and explain the benefits to your organization.

Busan Outcome Document (2011)

Built to improve: Leveraging realtime M&E for adaptive youth employment programming - Skelton, John (Mercy Corps, 2016)
Recognising that aid and development programming takes place in complex contexts, Mercy Corps is increasingly seeking to understand how best to manage programs which iterate, adapt and respond to the consistently evolving settings in which we work. This brief Practice Paper provides some examples of what adaptive management looks like in practice on the Prospects youth employment program in Liberia. It does not seek to function as a manual or set of guidelines, but simply provides some practical examples and insights into how a youth employment program governed by principles of adaptive management operates.

Building tech-powered public services - Bickerstaffe, Sarah (Institute for Public Policy Research, 2013)
Given the rapid pace of technological change and take up by the public it is a question of when not if public services become tech powered This new paper asks how we can ensure that innovations are successfully introduced and deployed

Building State Capability: Evidence, Analysis, Action - Andrews, Matt; Pritchett, Lant; Woolcock, Michael (Oxford University Press, 2017)
This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Governments play a major role in the development process, and constantly introduce reforms and policies to achieve developmental objectives. Many of these interventions have limited impact, however; schools get built but children don't learn, IT systems areintroduced but not used, plans are written but not implemented. These achievement deficiencies reveal gaps in capabilities, and weaknesses in the process of building state capability.This book addresses these weaknesses and gaps. It starts by providing evidence of the capability shortfalls that currently exist in many countries, showing that many governments lack basic capacities even after decades of reforms and capacity building efforts. The book then analyses this evidence, identifying capability traps that hold many governments back - particularly related to isomorphic mimicry (where governments copy best practice solutions from other countries that make them look morecapable even if they are not more capable) and premature load bearing (where governments adopt new mechanisms that they cannot actually make work, given weak extant capacities). The book then describes a process that governments can use to escape these capability traps. Called PDIA (problem driveniterative adaptation), this process empowers people working in governments to find and fit solutions to the problems they face. The discussion about this process is structured in a practical manner so that readers can actually apply tools and ideas to the capability challenges they face in their own contexts. These applications will help readers devise policies and reforms that have more impact than those of the past.
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Building justice and peace from below? Supporting community dispute resolution in Asia - Valters, Craig (ODI, 2016)

Building intentional networks that drive impact (part 2) - Mohr, Jeff (In Too Deep, 2016)
This is part 2 of our series on building intentional networks. Make sure you’ve read part 1 before diving into this article!

Building intentional networks that drive impact - Mohr, Jeff (In Too Deep, 2016)
These days everyone is familiar with some type of network — whether that’s their professional network on LinkedIn, their social network on…

Building elevators for development mutants - Quaggiotto, Giulio (Disrupt & Innovate, 2016)
I recently had the opportunity to learn about General Mill’s (the US food giant) “emerging brands elevator” program (also known as 301 Inc). Traditionally, General Mills has grown either through mergers and acquisitions, or by building new businesses from the ground up. Increasingly, however, it found that small brands were much faster at innovation, so … Continue reading Building elevators for development mutants

Building effective research policy networks: linking function and form - Mendizabal, Enrique (ODI, 2006)
This paper looks at the factors that affect the key structural characteristics of research policy networks in an attempt to develop a methodology for studying and understanding what networks do and how. It builds on previous work on the roles and functions that networks carry out and focuses on their structural characteristics. The literature on networks is explored to identify the main and most common factors affecting their structure, and then the paper considers the possible effects of these structural factors on a network's ability to perform one or more of these functions based on some of the lessons learned from a study of seven research policy networks in Peru. The paper provides a menu of factors and characteristics worth considering when intending to build effective networks.
OCLC: 183914885

Building Democracy from Below: Lessons from Western Uganda - King, Sophie; Hickey, Sam (The Journal of Development Studies, 2016)
How to achieve democratisation in the neo-patrimonial and agrarian environments that predominate in sub-Saharan Africa continues to present a challenge for both development theory and practice. Drawing on intensive fieldwork in Western Uganda, this paper argues that Charles Tilly’s ‘democratisation as process’ provides us with the framework required to explain the ways in which particular kinds of association can advance democratisation from below. Moving beyond the current focus on how elite-bargaining and certain associational forms may contribute to liberal forms of democracy, this approach helps identify the intermediate mechanisms involved in building democracy from below, including the significance of challenging categorical inequalities, notably through the role of producer groups, and of building trust networks, cross-class alliances and synergistic relations between civil and political society. The evidence and mode of analysis deployed here help suggest alternative routes for supporting local efforts to build democracy from below in sub-Saharan Africa.
Keywords: FRUGAL

Building Capacity for Strategic Innovation: an Emerging Competency Framework for Portfolio Work - Begovic, Milica; Colville, Jenniffer; Quaggiotto, Giulio; Vester, Søren; Naatujuna, Deborah; Oprunenco, Alex; Sadiku; Lejla; Uusikyla, Ida; Uriartt, Simone; Zorouali, Kawtar (Medium, 2023)
In a previous post we reflected on how a key learning from our “project to portfolio” journey to date is that it is ultimately about mustering the organizational will to transform. If the early days of our innovation work were about demonstrating results quickly and creating space for experimentation, now the challenge is of a different order. Eventually this means helping UNDP transition to a different value proposition and business model, as eloquently articulated by Gerd Trogemann: “No matter how well conceived and relevant in their own right, projects tend to pursue single point rather than systemic solutions, limit strategic space and the ability to adapt continuously and to connect the dots systemically. Systemic solutions need adaptive ways of working, strategic space, iterative learning, and radical collaboration.”

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

Building Bridges to an Uncertain Future Lived Now: Lessons from the Use of Participatory Action Research and Theory of Change Towards A Realistic Community-Based Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation System - Avila, Enrique M.; Tolentino, Lutgarda L.; Binondo, Claudia B.; Perez, Maripaz L.; Apgar, J. Marina (International Journal of Agriculture System, 2016)
Building on experience from the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems implemented by WorldFish in the Visayas and Mindanao regions of the Philippines, known as the VisMin Hub, we describe the development and evolution of a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system emerging from the facilitated action-reflection cycles of testing and adopting theories of change carried out with community partners through participatory action research (PAR). The former guides our community partners and us, as members of the potentially emergent PAR groups, towards the realization of the community’s vision; the latter facilitates learning to understand what, how and why change is unfolding. Unlike the conventional M&E system where indicators are pre-set at the beginning of program implementation, these processes result in an organically-evolved, communitybased participatory M&E system that is continuously revised according to contexts to guide communities towards realizing their visions. Its ultimate outcome is enhanced people’s capacity to own the product and process, giving rise to an internally-driven change. Towards the end, the paper offers an iterative discussion of learnings from implementing such an approach.
Keywords: Aquatic agricultural systems; CGIAR; Community-based participatory MEL; Learning; Participatory action research; research in development; theory of change

Building Better Systems - An introduction to System Innovation - Winhall, Jennie; Leadbeater, Charles (The Rockwool Foundation, 2020)
This paper lays out a series of steps people can take to create the new systems we need to meet shared, public challenges. Systems are ubiquitous and powerful. We rely on them to support our daily lives: every time we turn on a tap, flick a switch for electricity, drop our child at school, jump on a bus or visit a doctor we rely on a wider system. There is a widespread sense, among decision makers and citizens that in the coming decades society will need not just new products, software and services, but new systems for living sustainably in a socially inclusive society. The need for better, different systems will be heightened by the impact and lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic. Systems are productive precisely because they are more than standalone products. A system pulls together all the different ingredients needed to meet a need or to produce an outcome: the shipping container is a product, containerisation is a system; a contactless payment card is a product which only works as part of a payments system; an operation in a hospital can only take place because it is part of a wider health system. To understand how a system works it has to be seen as a whole, from the macro policy frameworks of social security systems right down to how a citizen goes about finding a job. Many of the systems we rely on for care and work, energy and transport, education and health are under pressure to change. Society faces both deeply entrenched and growing challenges that are outpacing the systems we have. We also have opportunities to create new, alternative systems as new knowledge, values and technologies emerge, from artificial intelligence and bitcoin, to circular and renewable systems of production. Rising to the challenge of fixing an existing system and exploring the possibility of creating a new system are different undertakings. The first is about optimising what exists, the second is about creating something different and better. We want this project to yield practical insights for those who want to respond to the systemic challenges of today by stepping into the possibilities of the future. Acting to change systems depends on new ways of seeing both challenge and opportunity: why systems come under strain and what unlocks the potential for alternatives. It depends on better understanding how new systems form, and what and who is part of initiating and driving the transition to them. In putting together this paper and the ones that will follow from it we want to clarify how to assess the need for, invest in and act on the process of deliberate system change.

Building a team culture for Adaptive Management in MSD: 5 Strategies MEL Managers Say Work - Gover, Dun; Nasution, Zulka; Okutu, David; Bolder, Meghan; Henao, Lina (USAID, 2023)
Keywords: Bolder Meghan; Gover Dun; Henao Lina; Nasution Zulka; Okutu David

Building a Movement of Public Problem Solvers - Building State Capability - Samji, Salimah (Building State Capability, 2021)
Solving public problems is a hard and thankless job. One that is undertaken with a shortage of time as well as resources, and often under pressure to deliver results. A common approach used to solve public problems is to develop a plan, sometimes with experts, and then to assume that implementation will happen on autopilot. To quote Mike Tyson, “Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth.” The question is, what do you do after you get punched? Continue with your existing plan? Or do you learn from the punch?

Building a Learning Organization - Garvin, David A. (Harvard Business Review, 1993)
Beyond high philosophy and grand themes lie the gritty details of practice.

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

Building a Learning Community in Liberia Through Partnerships at iCampus - iCampus (USAID LEARN, 2018)
Accountability Lab Liberia (ALab) and iLab Liberia established iCampus- a shared innovation, co-working and community space for organizations focusing on the intersection of technology, accountability and social change in Liberia. ALab implements DAI’s Learning activities at iCampus, and it is referred to as the Strategic Learning Partner of USAID Liberia Accountability and Voice Initiative (LAVI). LAVI is a five year USAID program with an overarching goal to strengthen multi-stakeholder partnerships to advocate for and monitor policy and accountability reforms. The iCampus CLA case scenario captures joint efforts of Accountability Lab Liberia, iLab Liberia and USAID LAVI, to ensure that learning and methodologies are shared and applied by development actors; address common capacity challenges that particularly hinder civil society from engaging in evidence-based and issues-based advocacy using various approaches, including network-building, creation of a cross-sectoral learning space- through collaboration and learning. In 2017, iCampus conducted a learning mapping survey to understand how organizations are learning in Liberia. The result indicated that frameworks and concepts of organizational learning are not yet well understood or used to guide strategic or programmatic practices, by either Liberian or international organizations. ALab, iLab and USAID LAVI then adopted a set of strategies, that led to the implementation of a CLA, enabling the establishment of the first multi-sectoral learning community in Liberia.

Building a global learning alliance on adaptive management - Wild, Leni; Ramalingam, Ben (ODI, 2018)

Building a culture of learning at scale: learning networks for systems change. - McKenzie, Fiona (Orange Compass & Paul Ramsay Foundation, 2021)
This scoping paper explores the question ‘what would it take to build a culture of learning at scale?’. It focuses on systems-wide learning that can help to inform systems change efforts in complex contexts. To answer this question, literature was reviewed from across diverse disciplines and the realms of education, innovation systems, systems thinking and knowledge management. This inquiry was also supported by in-depth interviews with numerous specialists from the for-purpose sector and the examination of several case studies of learning across systems. The goal was to derive common patterns to inform a ‘learning for systems change’ framework. Learning for systems change is critical when working with complexity. The dynamic nature of complex adaptive systems requires an ability to continually sense and learn from the system and adapt accordingly. This is because the nature of the challenge and ‘what works’ to meet the challenge is continually shifting (Lowe and Plimmer, 2019). This requires an ongoing process of iterative inquiry that draws upon wisdom and insights from across the system. Such learning challenges traditional siloes of expertise and organisational boundaries (Clarke et al., 2019). Learning is not simply a nice to have. It is critical for greater impact and improved outcomes, particularly in mission-driven organisations and initiatives (Price et al., 2019). In this paper, a ‘learning networks’ approach is proposed, one that draws upon individual, group and systems-wide learning to build capacity and resilience for systems change in uncertain environments. This fills a gap in the literature where the focus is largely on learning within organisations. Instead, the focus here is on what is required to support learning to occur across scales and boundaries - from the individual to system-wide. A simple meta-framework for developing learning networks is proposed that includes high level guidance on the enabling conditions - the mindsets, relationships, processes and structures- that would enable learning networks to flourish.

Building a Better International NGO: Greater than the Sum of the Parts? - Crowley, James; Ryan, Morgana (Kumarian Press, 2013)
In the wake of tremendous growth in the size and scope of their activities, as well as the increased complexity of their programs, how can large international NGOs work effectively―so that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts? James Crowley and Morgana Ryan address this question, drawing on their extensive hands-on experience to offer a practical and even provocative guide. The authors cover a range of essential topics, among them: What are INGOs good at? What should they be good at? Where does new technology fit in? What about accountability? What’s the best way to tackle strategic planning? In the process, they challenge those in leadership positions to recognize and implement the changes that are needed so that their organizations can perform better―and stay relevant―in the decades to come.

Budgeting for Developmental Evaluation: An Interview with Michael Quinn Patton - Better Evaluation (2012)

Broadening the range of designs and methods for impact evaluations - Stern, Elliot; Stame, Nicoletta; Mayne, John; Forss, Kim; Davies, Rick; Befani, Barbara (DFID, 2012)

Broad Agency Announcement for Locally Led Development Innovation - USAID (USAID, 2019)
This BAA allows USAID Operating Units (OUs) to co-create, co-design, co-invest, and collaborate in the research, development, piloting, testing, and scaling of innovative, practical, and cost-effective interventions to catalyze locally led development. The BAA aligns with a number of Agency priorities and policies, including the Journey to Self-Reliance, resilience, procurement innovation, and expanding and diversifying the partner base - as well as the New Partnerships Initiative and Acquisition and Assistance Strategy. E3/LS has put up the BAA’s first Addendum, "New Directions in Advancing Locally Led Development," which seeks Expressions of Interest on the following: - Engaging the Local Private Sector - Conflict, Post-Conflict, and Non-Permissive Environments - Effective Partnerships - The Changing Role of the Donor - Local Giving, Philanthropy, and Other Private Resources

Bringing politics back in: Towards a model of the developmental state - Leftwich, Adrian (The Journal of Development Studies, 1995)
The few cases of rapid economic growth in the Third World in the last 30 years have occurred in democratic, quasi‐democratic and non‐democratic polities. They are thus clearly not a function of common regime type. I suggest that they are best explained by the special character of their states, understood ‘as developmental states’. This article outlines some common characteristics of these states. However the forms and features of these states are not simply a function of their administrative structures or principles of governance, but of their politics. The article thus also underlines the importance of political analysis in both development theory and policy, from where it has been extruded for too long.

Bringing Participation into Complexity-Aware MEL: What is the evidence? - Apgar, Marina; Higdon, Grace Lyn (2018)

Bringing children into the life story collection process - Shrestha, Kapil (CLARISSA, 2021)
The CLARISSA Social Protection (SP) intervention provided six months of unconditional cash transfers to every household in the Gojmohol neighbourhood,...

Bringing adaptive management to life: Insights from practice - Arora, Anmol; Gogoi, Elizabeth; Joy, Divya; Kumar, Pankaj; Luthra, Rajni; Pal, Uma; Pervaiz, Arif (Oxford Policy Management, 2019)

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

Bridging the Gap: How Real-Time Data Can Contribute to Adaptive Management in International Development - Ben Ramalingam; Inka Barnett; Kevin Hernandez; Panthea Lee; Anna Levy; Carrie Oppenheimer; Dennis Whittle; Craig Valters; Leni Wild (USAID, 2017)
The ongoing digital revolution has seen rapid growth in the deployment of technology enabled real-time data initiatives in international development and humanitarian work, developed with the goal of accelerating decision-making processes and enhancing aid effectiveness and efficiency.

Bridging Real-Time Data and Adaptive Management: Ten Lessons for Policy Makers and Practitioners - Ben Ramalingam; Inka Barnett; Kevin Hernandez; Panthea Lee; Anna Levy; Carrie Oppenheimer; Dennis Whittle; Craig Valters; Leni Wild (USAID, 2017)
The ongoing digital revolution has seen rapid growth in the deployment of technology enabled real-time data initiatives in international development and humanitarian work, developed with the goal of accelerating decision-making processes and enhancing aid effectiveness and efficiency.

Bridging Real-Time Data and Adaptive Management in International Devepment - Case Study Report - Ramalingam, Ben; Barnett, Inka; Valters, Craig; Oppenheimer, Carrie; Levy, Anna; Hernandez, Kevin (IDS, 2017)

Bridging & Bonding: Improving Links between Transparency & Accountability Actors - Wanjiku Kelbert, Alexandra (2014)

Breaking the Mould: Alternative approaches to monitoring and evaluation - Dillon, Neil (ALNAP, 2019)
This paper looks at a range of M&E innovations that are designed specifically to provide input to ongoing iterative decision-making and learning at the project level. It identifies three key areas for potential innovation: 1) timing of M&E data provision; 2) flexibility of M&E frameworks to evolve with programme change; and 3) approaches to integrate diverse perspectives on project implementation in a meaningful way. It then looks at a collection of approaches currently being used in each of these three areas through a series of ‘practice examples’, considering the key lessons learned. Finally, the paper discusses the major opportunities and challenges for applying and scaling up the use of these approaches inside the humanitarian sector.

(Breaking) The Iron Triangle of Evaluation - Reynolds, Martin (IDS Bulletin, 2015)
Keywords: Evaluation; impact

Breaking free from the theory of change straight jacket - Apgar, Marina; Snijder, Mieke; Paul, Sukanta (CLARISSA, 2024)
The CLARISSA Social Protection Intervention was set us as an innovative social policy intervention for tackling social ills, with a...

Bradford Hill Criteria for Causal Inference - King, Julian (2015)
We think we’re good at determining causality, but we suck at it One of the great challenges in evaluation is determining whether the results we’re seeing are because of the program we’re evaluating, some other influences out there in the big world, or random chance. At one level, this is an everyday, common sense task. As a species we’ve been making judgments about causation for a million years or so. Unfortunately, though, the way we are wired does not predispose us to logical thinking. We are inclined to be led astray by all sorts of biases and heuristics. Over time, the rocket science for dealing with causation has become more sophisticated – a key example being the experimental study design or randomised controlled trial (RCT). And our evidence base about what works has been enriched as a result. But deep down we’re still biased, heuristical beings and not very good at thinking things through. We’ve become so enthusiastic about experimental designs we’re a little inclined to think they are the only way to determine whether A causes B. Such a rigid view is no much use in the real world, where there are all sorts of ethical, conceptual, practical and economic barriers that mean we can’t always conduct RCTs. Even where technically possible, they are not necessarily the best tool for every job.

Bootcamp Bootleg Design Thinking Toolkit - d.school (Institute of Design, Stanford University, 2010)
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Book Review: ‘Thinking and Working Politically in Development’ - Green, Duncan (From Poverty to Power, 2020)
Review of a new book that explores the 'secret sauce' of Coalitions for Change - an unusually successful governance programme in the Philippines

Book Review: Branko Milanovic's brilliant take on Global Inequality (From Poverty to Power, 2016)
Some of my favourite development economists are nomads, people with feet in different regions, which seems to make them better able to identify interesting patterns and similarities/differences bet...

Blurring the Boundaries: Citizen Action Across States and Societies - Benequista, Nicholas; Gaventa, John (Brighton: Citizenship DRC, 11., 2011)

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.
Google-Books-ID: f1eNBQAAQBAJ
Keywords: Psychology; Sports & Recreation / Sports Psychology; Strategic Planning

Biodiversity How-To Guide 3: Defining Outcomes & Indicators for Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning in USAID Biodiversity Programming - USAID (USAID, 2016)
The Biodiversity How-To Guide 3: Defining Outcomes and Indicators for Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning in USAID Biodiversity Programming is the third in a series of three guides that provide in-depth guidance on key tools and practices to support design teams as they design and manage biodiversity programs within the Program Cycle and in accordance with the USAID Biodiversity Policy. It uses the results chains developed in the second guide and provides help identifying key results for developing outcome statements and indicators, as required by USAID’s Biodiversity Code, updated in the Biodiversity Policy.

Biodiversity How-To Guide 2: Using Results Chains to Depict Theories of Change in USAID Biodiversity Programming - USAID (USAID, 2016)
The Biodiversity How-To Guide 2: Using Results Chains to Depict Theories of Change in USAID Biodiversity Programming is the second in a series of three guides that provide in-depth guidance on key tools and practices to support design teams as they design and manage biodiversity programs within the Program Cycle and in accordance with the USAID Biodiversity Policy. It builds off the situation model guide to help design teams clearly state the expected results and assumptions behind the proposed strategic approaches that make up the program’s theory of change. The situation model provides the foundation to identify necessary results to reduce threats; brainstorm and prioritize strategic approaches; and then develop results chains to clarify assumptions behind selected approaches.

Biodiversity How-To Guide 1: Developing Situation Models in USAID Biodiversity Programming - USAID (USAID, 2016)
The Biodiversity How-To Guide 1: Developing Situation Models in USAID Biodiversity Programming is the first in a series of three guides that provide in-depth guidance on key tools and practices to support design teams as they design and manage biodiversity programs within the Program Cycle and in accordance with the USAID Biodiversity Policy. It focuses on how to develop situation models to map out the biodiversity conservation problem context to be addressed.

Big Data to Data Science - Moving from “What” to “How” in the MERL Tech Space - Bertermann, Kecia; Robinson, Alexandra; Bamberger, Michael; Higdon, Grace Lyn; Raftre, Linda (MERL Tech, 2020)
This paper probes trends in the use of big data by a community of early adopters working in monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) in the development and humanitarian sectors. Qualitative analysis was conducted on data from MERL Tech conference records and key informant interviews. Findings indicate that MERL practitioners are in a fragmented, experimental phase, with use and application of big data varying widely, accompanied by shifting terminologies. We take an in-depth look at barriers to and enablers of use of big data within MERL, as well as benefits and drawbacks. Concerns about bias, privacy, and the potential for big data to magnify existing inequalities arose frequently. The research surfaced a need for more systematic and broader sharing of big data use cases and case studies in the development sector.

Biased Policy Professionals - Banuri, Sheheryar; Dercon, Stefan; Gauri, Varun (The World Bank Economic Review, 2019)
Although the decisions of policy professionals are often more consequential than those of individuals in their private capacity, there is a dearth of studies on the biases of policy professionals: those who prepare and implement policy on behalf of elected politicians. Experiments conducted on a novel subject pool of development policy professionals (public servants of the World Bank and the Department for International Development in the UK) show that policy professionals are indeed subject to decision-making traps, including the effects of framing outcomes as losses or gains, and, most strikingly, confirmation bias driven by ideological predisposition, despite having an explicit mission to promote evidence-informed and impartial decision making. These findings should worry policy professionals and their principals in governments and large organizations, as well as citizens themselves. A further experiment, in which policy professionals engage in discussion, shows that deliberation may be able to mitigate the effects of some of these biases.
Keywords: bias

Beyond Tweets and Screams: Action for Empowerment and Accountability in Nigeria – The Case of the #BBOG Movement - Aina, Tade Akin; Atela, Martin; Ojebode, Ayo; Dayil, Plangsat; Aremu, Fatai (IDS, 2019)
This paper explores the nature, role and dynamics of new forms of social and political action as pathways to empowerment and accountability in fragile conflict- and violence-affected settings in Africa. Through an in-depth analysis of the case of the Bring Back Our Girls (#BBOG) movement in Nigeria and a multi-methods approach, the paper provides new knowledge that addresses evidence gaps in the following areas: (1) the multiple ways through which social and political action play out in fragile, conflict- and violence-affected settings; (2) whether the conditions in which new forms of social and political action applicable to fragile, conflict- and violence-affected settings – the settings most dominant in African countries – emerge as currently projected in the literature; and (3) whether these social and political actions necessarily produce accountability and empowerment in fragile, conflict- and violence-affected settings. Although often expressed as contentious and/or unruly politics, experiences from the BBOG movement suggest that the new forms of social and political action possess a wide range of implications for citizen action and governance, including leading to multiple forms of empowerment in fragile settings.

Beyond the tools: supporting adaptation when organisational resources and capacities are in short supply - Fünfgeld, Hartmut; Lonsdale, Kate; Bosomworth, Karyn (Climatic Change, 2018)
Climate change adaptation is increasingly concerned with how organisations develop capacity to adapt to uncertain futures. A participatory action research project conducted in Victoria, Australia, examined how health and social service organisations developed their organisational adaptive capacity through the use of adaptation decision-support tools. It can be challenging for any organisation to select and apply a decision-support tool, but this is particularly the case where resources and capacities are limited. For most organisations, climate change is only one of a complex set of dynamic stressors they must consider in meeting organisational goals. This paper shows that while decision-support tools can help co-generate knowledge and facilitate customised organisational adaptation processes, for them to be practically helpful for organisations with limited resources and capacities, intensive collaborative and discursive processes are needed to adjust such tools to fit specific organisational contexts and needs. Facilitators and participatory approaches that enable co-inquiry can play a critical role in supplementing scarce resources and initiating adaptation processes that go well beyond the scope and purpose of the decision-support tool used. Organisations working effectively with decision-support tools to adapt to climate change will need to feel ownership of them and have confidence in modifying them to suit their particular adaptation needs and organisational goals.
Keywords: Adaptive capacity; Climate change; Community services; Decision-support tools; Facilitation; Health and social services; Organizational change

Beyond the toolkit: supporting peace processes in Asia - Denney, Lisa; Barron, Patrick (The Asia Foundation, 2015)

Beyond the Pioneer: Getting inclusive industries to scale - Koh, Harvey; Hedge, Nidhi; Karamchandani, Ashish (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Ltd (DTTIPL), 2014)

Beyond the log frame: a new tool for examining health and peacebuilding initiatives - Grove, Natalie J.; Zwi, Anthony B. (Development in Practice, 2008)
How do we move from identifying ethical principles to enhancing development practice? How can donors and NGOs move beyond the reporting of technical outputs to explore less tangible aspects of their health projects: contributions to rebuilding trust, promoting social cohesion, and enhancing good governance at community level? This article considers these questions in relation to health and peace-building activities in conflicted settings. It describes difficulties facing practitioners and donors seeking to undertake health and peace work, in particular focusing on the lack of appropriate tools for screening, monitoring, and evaluating projects. It critiques the logical framework, a tool commonly used in project planning, monitoring, and evaluation, and considers it alongside a new tool, the Health and Peace Building Filter, which has been designed to reflect on health programming in fragile or conflicted settings. The authors argue that such tools can help to move us beyond focusing on inputs and outputs to examining processes, relationships, and the indirect consequences of aid programmes.
Publisher: Routledge _eprint: https://doi.org/10.1080/09614520701778850

Beyond 'Technology for Development' and 'Sustainability' towards Systemic and Holistic Rural Innovation: Success Factors from the Southern African Experience over 20 years - Buisson, Uys Du; Cronje, Braam; Marais, Mario; Haruperi, Emmanuel; Rensburg, Johann (2014)
Abstract: This paper describes essential, real-world activities and processes needed to develop and deploy people-centred networks enabled with innovative technologies that in turn produce "...

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.

Beyond methodologies: Coalition-building for participatory technology development - Biggs, Stephen; Smith, Grant (World Development, 1998)
Participatory and other approaches to technology development have shared a recent preoccupation with specific methods and doubts about just how much can be expected of the methods themselves, as opposed to how they are applied, by whom, and in what circumstances. Detailed analysis of historical cases suggests that the development of both technologies and methodologies is highly dependent on local context. Such processes are characterized by conflicts over the direction of change and affected by the activities of a particular type of grouping, the development coalition. These coalitions are examined and implications are considered for training, education and Participatory technology development.
Keywords: agricultural research; methods; participatory development; research and development; rural development; science and technology

Beyond magic bullets in governance reform - de Gramont, Diane (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2014)

Beyond Logframes - Simister, Nigel (Intrac, 2017)
The logical framework, otherwise known as a logframe, is a commonly used planning tool. Initially designed for use within simple projects, it is increasingly being applied to complex programmes and organisations. In these cases the logical framework has limitations. There are several options that can help overcome these limitations. These include expanding the logframe, and using multiple logframes.

Beyond Logframe: Critique, Variations and Alternatives - Hummelbrunner, Richard (Beyond Logframe; Using Systems Concepts in Evaluation, 2010)
Over the last decades, the Logical Framework Approach (LFA) has become universally known and has assumed a key role for planning and managing development interventions. LFA, however, is not uncontroversial and the approach has been subject to criticism, concerning both its theoretical foundations and practical use. Despite these criticisms LFA’s position has not been fundamentally weakened and while many donors acknowledge its limits and weaknesses, they maintain (some would say impose) its use as a planning and monitoring tool. This chapter reviews some of the experience gained with LFA and outlines major attempts to develop variations – or move beyond it altogether. The first section briefly describes the LFA concept and summarizes the main points of critique. Section 2 then explores some variations which have been developed in response to this critique and to improve LFA as a management tool. Section 3 proposes a systemic alternative to logframe and Section 4 outlines alternatives to LFA which have recently been introduced in German development aid.

Beyond "Lack of Political Will": Elaborating Political Economy Concepts to Advance "Thinking and Working Politically" Comment on "Health Coverage and Financial Protection in Uganda: A Political Economy Perspective" - Ssennyonjo, Aloysius (International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 2022)
Political economy analysis (PEA) has been advanced as critical to understanding the political dimensions of policy change processes. However, political economy (PE) is not a theory on its own but draws on several concepts. Nannini et al, in concert with other scholars, emphasise that politics is characterised by conflict, contestation and negotiation over interests, ideas and power as various agents attempt to influence their context. This commentary reflects how Nannini et al wrestled with these PEA concepts - summarised in their conceptual framework used for PEA of the Ugandan case study on financial risk protection reforms. The central premise is that a common understanding of the PEA concepts (mainly structure-agency interactions, ideas, interests, institutions and power) forms a basis for strategies to advance thinking and working politically. Consequently, I generate several insights into how we can promote politically informed approaches to designing, implementing and evaluating policy reforms and development efforts.

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

Beyond Ballotocracy: Citizens' Voices and the Many Faces of Unruly Politics - Tadros, Mariz (IDS Bulletin, 2014)

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.
Publisher: Routledge _eprint: https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2015.1003532

Berkana Two Loop Model: A quick introduction to an accessible model for systems change - Proud, Emma (LinkedIn - Emma Proud, 2023)
A model I've been using a lot recently, to bring systems thinking to life, is the Berkana Two Loop model. It doesn't describe complexity or systems thinking. But it does describe systems change in a way that's simple and oriented to action.

Beneficiary Feedback Mechanisms - Hayman, Rachel (INTRAC, 2020)
There is a growing emphasis among NGOs and donors on ensuring that the voices of beneficiaries are heard. A range of beneficiary feedback mechanisms (BFMs) exist which enable beneficiary perspectives and suggestions to be gathered and used within an M&E system. BFMs are tools designed to enable a continuous cycle of interaction between those receiving and those delivering aid-funded interventions.

Beneficiary feedback mechanisms - UK Aid (FCDO, 2022)
This guidance seeks to ensure that UK Aid Direct applicants and grant holders understand what the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) means by beneficiary feedback mechanisms, and more specifically, that they: • Understand the terms used that relate to beneficiary feedback mechanisms in UK Aid Direct guidance and templates • Understand beneficiary feedback mechanisms and why they are a useful tool for project monitoring and learning • Learn how to use beneficiary feedback mechanisms during project implementation. • Can demonstrate that using beneficiary feedback mechanisms can lead to greater accountability.

Beneficiary Assessment: An Approach Described - Salmen, Lawrence (World Bank, 2002)
Beneficiary assessment is a tool for managers who wish to improve the quality of development operations. This is an approach to information gathering which assesses the value of an activity as it is perceived by its principal users. The approach is qualitative in that it attempts to derive understanding from shared experience as well as observation, and gives primacy to the centrality of the other person’s point of view. As the Bank and others engaged in development activities seek to do their work better, one key indicator will need to be how the ultimate customer, or intended beneficiary, assesses the value of this work, project or policy, as it affects his or her life. The illumination of how an intended beneficiary appreciates a planned or ongoing developmental activity is the primary objective of this approach. Beneficiary assessment is a systematic inquiry into people’s values and behavior in relation to a planned or ongoing intervention for social and economic change. This method draws heavily from the tradition in social science known as "qualitative research...that fundamentally depends on watching people in their own territory and interacting with them in their own language, on their own terms" (Kirk and Miller). Yet beneficiary assessment also includes direct observation, incorporating simple counting, and is expressed in quantitative terms. The ultimate goal of beneficiary assessment is to reveal the meaning people give to particular aspects of their lives so that development activities may better enhance people’s ability to improve their own living conditions, as they see fit. This demands close rapport between the practitioner of this approach, the beneficiary and the development manager. The beneficiary assessment approach is not intended to supplant the questionnaire survey but to provide reliable qualitative, indepth information on the socio-cultural conditions of a beneficiary population which is intended to be of immediate use to managers and policymakers responsible for improving people’s lives.

Being Spherical: Reshaping Our Lives and Our World for the 21st Century - Lawson, Phil; Lindstrom, Robert L. (Sphericity Press, 2004)
In this concise, illustrated work exploring the dynamics of living in the 21st century, Phil Lawson and Robert L. Lindstrom show us how we individually and collectively shape the future - a future no longer dominated by traditional hierarchies and concentrated power centers. The authors explain why, in this dawning era of interconnection and interdependency, we require a dramatic transformation in the way we see, think and act. Using mythological imagery in the form of The Sphere and an innovative and adaptive vocabulary, they introduce us to concepts and processes for reshaping our lives, our organizations and our world for the better. In addition, they introduce the Spherical Modeling Tool (SMT), a practical hands-on awareness application. BEING SPHERICAL GUIDES US AS WE LEARN TO: * Prepare for a future we cannot even vaguely predict. * Raise our children well in a climate of moral uncertainty. * Create viable organizations in an era of extreme complexity. * Come to the aid of an abused and ailing planet. AS WE LEARN TO SEE THE SPHERE WE: * Understand why we do what we do and what to do differently. * Discover creative solutions to longstanding problems. * Connect and reconnect within ourselves and with others. * Ready ourselves of quantum leaps in inspiration and awareness. THE GREATER OUR SPHERICAL INTEGRITY THE BETTER WE: * Flex with internal and external pressures. * Adapt to disorienting and accelerating change. * Respond to unpredictable and uncontrollable conditions. * Roll through hard times and bounce forward from adversity. Excerpted from Being Spherical: Reshaping Our Lives and Our World for the 21st Century by Phil Lawson, Robert L. Lindstrom. Copyright 2004. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Behind the scenes: International NGOs’ influence on reproductive health policy in Malawi and South Sudan - Storeng, Katerini T.; Palmer, Jennifer; Daire, Judith; Kloster, Maren O. (Global Public Health, 2019)
Global health donors increasingly embrace international nongovernmental organisations (INGOs) as partners, often relying on them to conduct political advocacy in recipient countries, especially in controversial policy domains like reproductive health. Although INGOs are the primary recipients of donor funding, they are expected to work through national affiliates or counterparts to enable ‘locally-led’ change. Using prospective policy analysis and ethnographic evidence, this paper examines how donor-funded INGOs have influenced the restrictive policy environments for safe abortion and family planning in South Sudan and Malawi. While external actors themselves emphasise the technical nature of their involvement, the paper analyses them as instrumental political actors who strategically broker alliances and resources to shape policy, often working ‘behind the scenes’ to manage the challenging circumstances they operate under. Consequently, their agency and power are hidden through various practices of effacement or concealment. These practices may be necessary to rationalise the tensions inherent in delivering a global programme with the goal of inducing locally-led change in a highly controversial policy domain, but they also risk inciting suspicion and foreign-national tensions.

Behavioral Design: A New Approach to Development Policy - Datta, Saugato; Mullainathan, Sendhil (Review of Income and Wealth, 2014)

Before the Backlash, Let’s Redefine User-Centered Design - Lee, Panthea (Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2015)
We must better understand user-centered design’s limitations—not just its strengths—in the context of international development. And we must adapt it from its original uses designing commercial products to solving for social good.

Be a participant not a spectator - Sharp, Cathy (The Evaluator - UK Evaluation Society, 2022)
My focus here is on the realities of evaluating in complexity where ‘nothing is clear, and everything keeps changing’. I outline how I use a series of ‘provocations’ that allow people to choose their own starting point. Sharing those choices fuels conversations that discover, explore, and co-create (rather than manage) our mutual expectations and assumptions and track how these might themselves be influenced by the work as it unfolds. This account draws on a review of literature and my practice experience, including reflections from others brought into local, national, and international conversations about what it means for evaluation to recognise complexity.

Barrio Mio and Katye: PCI’s neighbourhood approach in cities - Campbell, Leah (ALNAP/ODI, 2019)

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

Barriers and enablers to climate change adaptation in hierarchical governance systems: the case of Vietnam - Phuong, Le Thi Hong; Biesbroek, G. Robbert; Wals, Arjen E. J. (Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 2018)
Governments fulfil important roles in increasing the adaptive capacity of local communities to respond to climate change impacts, particularly in developing countries. Existing studies on how governments enable and constrain the ways in which local level communities learn and build their adaptive capacity, however, generally adopt network or market-oriented types of governance. However, the most vulnerable regions to climate change impact in the world are generally governed through hierarchical policy systems. This research aims to understand how the hierarchical policy system in Vietnam creates enables and/or constrains the policy capacity of policy actors to contribute to effective climate change adaptation. We conducted interviews (n = 26) with key actors at multiple levels of government. Our findings show the importance of clear legal institutions, available financing for implementing policies, and the training of governmental staff, particularly at district and commune levels where the policy capacities are generally too low to deal with climate change impacts. We conclude that any efforts to support local actors (i.e. smallholder farmers) should include investments in policy capacity to ensure uptake and upscaling of adaptation actions more broadly.

Balancing Inclusiveness, Rigour and Feasibility: Insights from Participatory Impact Evaluations in Ghana and Vietnam - van Hemelrijck, Adinda; Guijt, Irene (CDI, 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.

Back to the Drawing Board: How to improve monitoring of outcomes - Dillon, Neil; Sundberg, Amelie (ODI/ALNAP, 2019)

Assumptions, conjectures, and other miracles: The application of evaluative thinking to theory of change models in community development - Archibald, Thomas; Sharrock, Guy; Buckley, Jane; Cook, Natalie (Evaluation and Program Planning, 2016)
Unexamined and unjustified assumptions are the Achilles’ heel of development programs. In this paper, we describe an evaluation capacity building (ECB) approach designed to help community development practitioners work more effectively with assumptions through the intentional infusion of evaluative thinking (ET) into the program planning, monitoring, and evaluation process. We focus specifically on one component of our ET promotion approach involving the creation and analysis of theory of change (ToC) models. We describe our recent efforts to pilot this ET ECB approach with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in Ethiopia and Zambia. The use of ToC models, plus the addition of ET, is a way to encourage individual and organizational learning and adaptive management that supports more reflective and responsive programming.
Keywords: Assumptions; Community development; Critical thinking; Evaluation capacity building; Evaluative thinking; International Development; Theory of change

Assumptions and triple loop learning - Aston, Thomas (Medium, 2021)
Triple loop learning

Assumption-aware tools and agency; an interrogation of the primary artifacts of the program evaluation and design profession in working with complex evaluands and complex contexts - Morrow, Nathan; Nkwake, Apollo M. (Evaluation and Program Planning, 2016)
Like artisans in a professional guild, we evaluators create tools to suit our ever evolving practice. The tools we use as evaluators are the primary artifacts of our profession, reflect our practice and embody an amalgamation of paradigms and assumptions. With the increasing shifts in evaluation purposes from judging program worth to understanding how programs work, the evaluator’s role is changing to that of facilitating stakeholders in a learning process. This involves clarifying purposes and choices, as well as unearthing critical assumptions. In such a role, evaluators become major tool-users and begin to innovate with small refinements or produce completely new tools to fit a specific challenge or context. We interrogate the form and function of 12 tools used by evaluators when working with complex evaluands and complex contexts. The form is described in terms of traditional qualitative techniques and particular characteristics of the elements, use and presentation of each tool. Then the function of each tool is analyzed with respect to articulating assumptions and affecting the agency of evaluators and stakeholders in complex contexts.
Keywords: Agency; Assumption-aware; Complex context; Complex programs; Participatory approaches; Program design; Program evaluation; Program tools; Theory-based

Assessing Value for Money: the Oxford Policy Management Approach - King, Julian; Daniel Wate; Esther Namukasa; Alex Hurrell; Frances Hansford; Patrick Ward; Shiva Faramarzifar (Oxford Policy Management, 2023)
This document offers practical guidance for assessing the Value for Money (VfM) of government- and donor-financed programmes and policy interventions. In line with OPM’s focus and mission, it has been predominantly applied in the international development sector, but the approach upon which it is based is also used in the context of domestic public policy and programmes.1 There is increasing scrutiny on VfM in international development, but a lack of appropriate methods to support its assessment. There is a risk of reaching invalid conclusions if VfM evaluation is tied to a narrow set of indicators devoid of any evaluative judgement—for example, by emphasising the most readily quantifiable measures rather than the most important (but harder to quantify) aspects of performance, or by focusing on the quantification of outputs and outcomes at the expense of more nuanced consideration of their quality, value, and importance. The approach presented in this guide combines theory and practice from evaluation and economics to respond to requirements for accountability and good resource allocation, as well as to support reflection, learning, and adaptive management. It involves developing and implementing a framework for: • organising evidence of performance and VfM; • interpreting the evidence on an agreed basis; and • presenting a clear and robust performance story. This guide sets out a framework for making and presenting judgements in a way that opens both the reasoning process and the evidence to scrutiny. The approach is designed to be used in alignment with broader monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) systems—both for efficiency's sake, and to ensure conceptual coherence between VfM evaluation and wider MEL work. The VfM framework achieves these aims by: • using explicit criteria (aspects of performance) and standards (levels of performance) to provide a transparent basis for making sound judgements about performance and VfM; • combining quantitative and qualitative forms of evidence to support a richer and more nuanced understanding than can be gained from the use of indicators alone; • accommodating economic evaluation (where feasible and appropriate) without limiting the analysis to economic methods and metrics alone; and • incorporating and building on an approach to VfM evaluation which is familiar to international aid donors.

Assessing the use of technological tools and strategies by Oxfam Novib partners in Angola, Burundi, Egypt, Niger, Pakistan, Rwanda and Uganda - The Engine Room (2014)
This report presents findings and insights from the Oxfam Novib pilot module of TechScape, which assessed how Oxfam Novib partners in seven countries related to the use of technology in their work. This report does not aim to draw conclusions about the nature of technology use by Oxfam Novib partners per se, or even the partners included in this assessment. The dramatic difference in organizational activities, contexts and objectives are too great for that. Detailed analysis of how partners are relating to technology in their work, and specific recommendations for greater efficiency and impact are presented in the TechScape Country Briefs. This report aims instead: • to describe the context in which the assessments took place, • to propose insights gained from the cumulative process about measurement, learning and capacity development, and • to identify opportunities for Oxfam Novib to pursue capacity development and knowledge sharing between countries and across the network, through mechanisms that minimize resource demands and directly target documented needs.

Assessing the strength of Evidence - DFID (2014)

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

Assessing the Demand for a Global Evidence Network. Mapping Existing Initiatives and Understanding Network Lessons and Opportunities - Gandolfo, Ari; Taddese, Abeba (Results for all, 2018)

Assessing Rural Transformations: Piloting a Qualitative Impact Protocol in Malawi and Ethiopia - Copestake, James; Remnant, Fiona (Centre for Development Studies (CDS), 2014)

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

Assessing Impact in Dynamic and Complex Environments: Systemic Action Research and Participatory Systemic Inquiry - Burns, Danny (IDS, 2014)
This CDI Practice Paper is about the uses of Systemic Action Research (SAR) and Participatory Systemic Inquiry (PSI) for impact assessment (Burns 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013; Wadsworth 2001, 2010).

Are you doing what’s needed to get the state to respond to its citizens? Or are you part of the problem? - Herringshaw, Vanessa (Making All Voices Count, 2017)
Three challenges from Making All Voices Count research on responsive governance

Are we there yet? Localisation as the journey towards locally led practice: models, approaches and challenges - Baguios, Arbie; King, Maia; Martins, Alex; Pinnington, Rose (ODI, 2021)
Localisation and locally led international development practice has long been discussed, but has still not been delivered. Systemic barriers have posed challenges, and the term itself is contested. Now, the last tumultuous 18 months could provide a critical juncture to finally move forward with this crucial agenda. The pandemic has highlighted structural inequalities in the global system, and disrupted ways of working in the international development sector. The Black Lives Matter movement has brought conversations about racism and colonialism to the fore. And the climate crisis has highlighted the need for global action on humanity’s challenges that remain rooted in local realities. The emerging analysis in this review aims to set out the key issues in this agenda, building on a wealth of existing knowledge. It aims to span sectors, highlighting many new and existing models and approaches in the humanitarian, development, philanthropic and private sectors. It reviews the barriers and challenges to localisation and locally led practice, with a view to informing a campaign for systemic change to move forward with this agenda. The review is based on: a rapid review of the literature and evidence on localisation and locally led practice; two consultations with over 100 total participants, targeted at Global South actors; and analysis of 28 existing models and approaches.

Are we suffering from obsessive measurement disorder? - Pasanen, Tiina (From Poverty to Power, 2019)
ODI’s Tiina Pasanen argues that more data doesn’t necessarily mean we make better decisions, and sets out some ideas for how we count what counts.

Are unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) the future of wildlife monitoring? A review of accomplishments and challenges - Linchant, Julie; Lisein, Jonathan; Semeki, Jean; Lejeune, Philippe; Vermeulen, Cédric (Mammal Review, 2015)
Regular monitoring of animal populations must be established to ensure wildlife protection, especially when pressure on animals is high. The recent development of drones or unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) opens new opportunities. UASs have several advantages, including providing data at high spatial and temporal resolution, providing systematic, permanent data, having low operational costs and being low-risk for the operators. However, UASs have some constraints, such as short flight endurance. We reviewed studies in which wildlife populations were monitored by using drones, described accomplishments to date and evaluated the range of possibilities UASs offer to provide new perspectives in future research. We focused on four main topics: 1) the available systems and sensors; 2) the types of survey plan and detection possibilities; 3) contributions towards anti-poaching surveillance; and 4) legislation and ethics. We found that small fixed-wing UASs are most commonly used because these aircraft provide a viable compromise between price, logistics and flight endurance. The sensors are typically electro-optic or infrared cameras, but there is the potential to develop and test new sensors. Despite various flight plan possibilities, mostly classical line transects have been employed, and it would be of great interest to test new methods to adapt to the limitations of UASs. Detection of many species is possible, but statistical approaches are unavailable if valid inventories of large mammals are the purpose. Contributions of UASs to anti-poaching surveillance are not yet well documented in the scientific literature, but initial studies indicate that this approach could make important contributions to conservation in the next few years. Finally, we conclude that one of the main factors impeding the use of UASs is legislation. Restrictions in the use of airspace prevent researchers from testing all possibilities, and adaptations to the relevant legislation will be necessary in future.
Keywords: detection; drone; survey; wildlife

Approprite Technologies for Rural Development in India - Blankenbey, Floris P. (Concept Publishing Co, 1991)

Appropriating technology for accountability: messages from Making All Voices Count - McGee, Rosemary; Edwards, Duncan; Hudson, Hannah; Anderson, Colin; Feruglio, Francesca (IDS, 2018)
Making All Voices Count was a programme designed to solve the ‘grand challenge’ of creating more effective democratic governance and accountability around the world. It used funding from four donors to support the development and spread of innovative ideas for solving governance problems – many of them involving tools and platforms based on mobile phone and web technologies. Between 2013 and 2017, the programme made grants for innovation and scaling projects that aimed to amplify the voices of citizens and enable governments to listen and respond. It also conducted research and issued research grants to explore the roles that technology can play in securing responsive, accountable government and building an evidence base. This synthesis report reviews the Making All Voices Count’s four-and-a-half years of operational experience and learning. It shares 14 key messages on the roles technologies can play in enabling citizen voice and accountable and responsive governance. These messages are presented in four sections: (1) Applying technologies as technical fixes to solve service delivery problems; (2) Applying technologies to broader, systemic governance challenges ; (3) Applying technologies to build the foundations of democratic and accountable governance systems; (4) Applying technologies for the public ‘bad’, when tech can be dangerous for democracy. The tech optimism of the era in which the programme was conceived can now be reappraised from the better-informed vantage point of hindsight. Making All Voices Count’s wealth of diverse and grounded experience and documentation provides an evidence base that should enable a more sober and mature position of tech realism as the field of tech for accountable governance continues to evolve.

Appropriate Technology Sourcebook - Darrow, Ken; Saxenian, Mike (Village Earth, 1986)
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Appropriate ICT as a Tool to Increase Effectiveness in ICT4D: Theoretical considerations and illustrating cases - Reijswoud, Victor van (The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 2009)
The need to bridge the digital divide is no longer a point of discussion and therefore focus has shifted to the design and implementation of programs that have the potential to close the information and knowledge gap between the developing and developed nations. Unfortunately, the majority of these programs are small and mimic what has been successful in the developed world. It has become increasingly clear that these successes do not necessarily translate well in the context of developing nations. This paper develops the hypothesis that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) projects in developing countries will become successful only when they are adapted to local conditions. The general concept of Appropriate Technology (AT) will be explored for the field of ICT. AT has already been embraced by fields like architecture, building technology and agriculture, but has not yet been rooted in ICT. The paper proposes a preliminary theory of Appropriate ICT along the lines of existing theories in AT and System development. The theory identifies Appropriate Technology principles at three levels: hardware, software and ICT change management. By means of real life mini cases in the ICT for Development context in Africa, the guiding principles for Appropriate ICT are illustrated. The paper will conclude with an agenda for further research in the three identified levels. The research agenda targets academia, governments, NGO's and industry.
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Approaches for addressing complexity in programme theory: Experiences in applying the Actor-based Change (ABC) Framework to a variety of international development programmes and evaluations - Koleros, Andrew; Oldenbeuving, Mark (2018)

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

Appreciative Inquiry Principles - Coaching Leaders (2015)
This article, written by Emotional Intelligence Coach Andy Smith, describes the anticipatory principle which is one of the underpinnings of Appreciative Inquiry (AI). It argues that it is easier and more effective to move towards a positive imagined future than away from a negative one. It is principle number 4 in a series of principles outlined. More principle are listed below.

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.

Appreciative Inquiry Australia - Appreciative Inquiry Australia (2015)
The site provides news and information on AI events and learning opportunities in Australia and also provides an archive of articles and discussions centred on the use of AI.

Appreciative Inquiry: An approach for learning and change based on our own best practices​ - Acosta, Anne; Douthwaite, Boru (Institute of Learning and Change, 2005)
Since it was conceptualized in the late 1980s as a research methodology and change paradigm, the technique of ‘appreciative inquiry’ (AI) has proved to be highly effective for capturing the positive features of an organization or social system and energizing the members to strive for higher levels of performance. This Brief outlines the basic principles and methods of AI, describes various domains in which it has been undertaken and provides a recent example of its use in a centre affiliated with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

Appreciative Inquiry - Better Evaluation (Better Evaluation)
Appreciative Inquiry is an approach to organisational change which focuses on strengths rather than on weaknesses - quite different to many approaches to evaluation which focus on deficits and problems. "Appreciative Inquiry is about the coevolutionary search for the best in people, their organizations, and the relevant world around them. In its broadest focus, it involves systematic discovery of what gives “life” to a living system when it is most alive, most effective, and most constructively capable in economic, ecological, and human terms. AI involves, in a central way, the art and practice of asking questions that strengthen a system’s capacity to apprehend, anticipate, and heighten positive potential." (Cooperrider & Whitney 2005, p.3) Appreciative Inquiry is often presented in terms of a 4 step process around an affirmative topic choice: 1. DISCOVER: What gives life? What is the best? Appreciating and identifying processes that work well. 2. DREAM: What might be? What is the world calling for? Envisioning results, and how things might work well in the future. 3. DESIGN: What should be–the ideal? Co-constructing - planning and prioritizing processes that would work well. 4. DESTINY (or DELIVER): How to empower, learn and adjust/improvise? Sustaining the change While Appreciative Inquiry has always had an evaluative focus (working out what is working well and seeking to improve performance and conditions), in recent years there have been explicit efforts to embed AI principles and processes in formal evaluation processes: "Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a group process that inquires into, identifies and further develops the best of “what is” in organizations in order to create a better future. Often used in the organization development field as an approach to large-scale change, it is a means for addressing issues, challenges, changes and concerns of an organization in ways that builds on the successful, effective and energizing experiences of its members. Underlying AI is a belief that the questions we ask are critical to the world we create." (Preskill & Catsambas 2006 p2)

Appraising Adaptive Management - Lee, Kai (Conservation Ecology, 1999)
Lee, K. N. 1999. Appraising adaptive management. Conservation Ecology 3(2): 3. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-00131-030203

Applying the River of Life Method to Support Reflection and Learning in Terre des hommes Nepal - Karki, Shanta; Giri, Roju; Neupane, Sudarshan; Snijder, Mieke; Apgar, Marina (Institute of Development Studies, 2023)
The RoL method is a visual narrative method that helps people tell stories of the past, present, and future. Individuals can use this method to introduce themselves in a fun and descriptive way. A group can use it to understand and reflect on the past and imagine the future of a project. Besides, it can also be used to build a shared view of a process over time while acknowledging different and perhaps contradictory perspectives. The method uses drawings rather than text, making it useful in groups that do not share a common language. Metaphors from a river are used to explore aspects of a story – such as whirlpools depicting challenges or lakes suggesting a sense of calm etc. When used in a group, it is an active method, engaging people in the process of storytelling and listening through visualising their experiences and using metaphors to explore in depth. In CLARISSA, we adapted the RoL method to document our collective understanding of the story of implementation of the programme as part of the programme’s monitoring, evaluation and learning component. The purpose was to surface the details of our process of the systemic Action Research that we are undertaking with children in the worst forms of child labour and business owners. We used the same river metaphors as is often applied when the method is used with individuals.
Accepted: 2023-09-18T10:13:55Z Publisher: Institute of Development Studies

Applying Systems Thinking via Systemigrams™ for Defining the Body of Knowledge and Curriculum to Advance Systems Engineering (BKCASE) Project - Squires, Alice; Pyster, Art; Sauser, Brian; Olwell, David; Enck, Stephanie; Gelosh, Don; Anthony, Jim (INCOSE International Symposium, 2010)
Systems thinking is commonly accepted as the backbone of a successful systems engineering approach. As such, the Body of Knowledge and Curriculum to Advance Systems Engineering (BKCASE) team chose to leverage a systems thinking based tool, called Systemitool, to describe our project to the vast audience that would potentially become involved directly or indirectly in the success of the project. This paper describes the process and steps used by the authors and the BKCASE team to develop the project's systemic diagram, or Systemigram™, and the story behind the project, the products, and the vision of the BKCASE project. The goal of the paper is to provide guidance so that readers can leverage the lessons learned from this effort to successfully develop their own project definitions and stories.

Applying Systems Thinking to Education: The RISE Systems Framework - Spivack, Marla (Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE), 2021)
Many education systems in low- and middle-income countries are experiencing a learning crisis. Many efforts to address this crisis do not account for the system features of education, meaning that they fail to consider the ways that interactions and feedback loops produce outcomes. Thinking through the feedback relationships that produce the education system can be challenging. The RISE Education Systems Framework, which is sufficiently structured to give boundaries to the analysis but sufficiently flexible to be adapted to multiple scenarios, can be helpful. The RISE Framework identifies four key relationships in an education system: politics, compact, management, and voice and choice; and five features that can be used to describe these relationships: delegation, finance, information, support, and motivation. This Framework can be a useful approach for characterising the key actors and interactions in the education system, thinking through how these interactions produce systems outcomes, and identifying ways to intervene that can shift the system towards better outcomes.

Applying social learning where ‘business-as-usual’ solutions no longer work for complex problems and programs - Le Borgne, Ewen (CCSL Learning Brief, 2016)
Key messages • Social learning facilitates sharing and learning beyond individuals to networks and systems. Through a facilitated, iterative process of joint work, dialogue and reflection, new shared ways of knowing emerge that lead to changes in practice. • Social learning has real potential to unlock change and transform relationships between actors involved in complex programs and/or dealing with ‘wicked problems’. Adversely it is not advisable to pursue for simple initiatives. • Social learning offers many thematic and pragmatic entry points to be embedded in the CGIAR research programs around partnerships, innovation systems, monitoring and evaluation.

Applying Rigorous Impact Evaluation in GIZ Governance Programmes: Results of a GIZ Initiative on Impacts in Governance - von Schiller, Armin (GIZ GmbH, 2020)
Pressure is mounting on international development cooperation agencies to prove the impact of their work. Private and public commissioners as well as the general public are increasingly asking for robust evidence of impact. In this context, rigorous impact evaluation (RIE) methods are increasingly receiving attention within the broader German development system and in GIZ. Compared to other implementing agencies such as DFID or USAid, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has so far relatively little experience in systematically applying rigorous methods of impact evaluation. This is particularly true in the governance sector. In order to gain more experience and to understand which methods and formats are best suited for GIZ governance programmes, the Governance and Conflict division and the Africa department launched the ‘Impact Initiative Africa’ in 2016, a cooperative effort with several programmes in Africa. The Initiative set out to apply the experiences from GIZ governance programmes to design and conduct RIEs, and to use the results to steer programme implementation. Initially, the Initiative included three countries: Benin (Programme for Decentralisation and Local Development), Malawi (Support to Public Financial and Economic Management) and Mozambique (Good Financial Governance in Mozambique). During its implementation, the Initiative also benefitted from the experience of two additional governance programmes which had already undertaken RIEs, namely Peru (Citizen-oriented State Reform Programme) and Pakistan (Support to Local Governance Programme II). This report summarizes the insights gained from these experiences and discusses opportunities and limitations regarding the use and usability of RIEs in GIZ governance programmes as well as proposals on how to organise RIEs to maximise learning potential and benefits for the specific programmes and the GIZ Governance sector at large.

Applying Power Analysis: Using the ‘Powercube’ to explore forms, levels and spaces - Gaventa, John (Power, Empowerment and Social Change, 2019)
In a complex, globalised and rapidly changing world, power dynamics are multidimensional, constantly evolving, and full of complexity. The ‘powercube’ (Gaventa, 2006) is an approach to power analysis which can be used to examine the multiple forms, levels and spaces of power, and their interactions. Building on earlier work on power, and elaborated and popularised in collaboration with other colleagues through the web site powercube.net and numerous other resources, the powercube has been widely used around the world for analysis of power, education and awareness building, context analysis, programme and strategy development, and monitoring and evaluation. This article briefly outlines the evolution of the powercube, and provides examples of the issue areas in which it has been used, and for what purposes. Drawing on these, we then offer eight lessons of how to apply the powercube framework for analysing and transforming power relations.

Applying Evaluation Criteria Thoughtfully - OECD (OECD, 2021)
Relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability are widely used evaluation criteria, particularly in international development co-operation. They help to determine the merit or worth of various interventions, such as strategies, policies, programmes or projects. This guidance aims to help evaluators and others to better understand those criteria, and improve their use. It starts by describing what they are, and how they are meant to be used. Then the definitions and concepts underpinning each criterion are explained. Finally, examples provide the reader with concrete ideas for using them. The criteria were originally laid out in the early 2000s by the Network on Development Evaluation (EvalNet) of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC). Although they have been widely used in evaluation, and beyond, this document is the first to comprehensively explore the concepts in detail, explain their intended use and offer practical guidance. It captures current thinking and best practice in evaluation, drawing on the inputs of internationally renowned evaluation experts from EvalNet and beyond.
Type: doi:https://doi.org/10.1787/543e84ed-en

Applying Adaptive Management in a Fragile Context – Case Study - Lonsdale, Jane; Green, Duncan; Robertson, Kelly (DT Global, 2023)
DT Global is proud to introduce our new Guidance Note: Practical Introduction to Adaptive Management There is a growing consensus around adaptive management as an effective (even necessary) approach when programs are tackling complex development problems. While there is no standard definition of adaptive management, there is general agreement that such programs need to routinely engage with and respond to program context; constantly test what works in that context; and adjust approaches, plans, and activities based on continuous learning. However, there remains a more limited body of evidence about what this looks like in practice—the enabling conditions, systems, resourcing, skills, and attitudes to effectively operationalise adaptive management. There is also limited guidance around when adaptive management is required, and to what extent—both critical and often overlooked considerations when planning for successful adaptive management. This Guidance Note draws together lessons and good practice in adaptive management from across DT Global’s diverse portfolio of donor-funded programs. It outlines our conceptual framework for adaptive management, with practical guidance on how it can be applied by our program teams. It is also designed to help our teams distinguish adaptive management from good (non adaptive) project management, consider when adaptive management is most useful on a program, and how adaptive a program (or part of a program) should be.