Doing Development Differently at the World Bank: updating the plumbing to fit the architecture - Bain, Katherine A.; Booth, David; Wild, Leni (ODI, 2016)
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Developing ICT Services in a Low-Resource Development Context - Bon, Anna; Akkermans, Hans; Gordijn, Jaap (Complex Systems Informatics and Modeling Quarterly, 2016)
Keywords: IMPORTANT

The political economy of pre-trial detention: Indonesia case study - Domingo, Pilar; Sudaryono, Leopold (ODI, 2016)

Engaging Farmers in Climate Change Adaptation Planning: Assessing Intercropping as a Means to Support Farm Adaptive Capacity - Himanen, Sari J.; Mäkinen, Hanna; Rimhanen, Karoliina; Savikko, Riitta (Agriculture, 2016)
Agriculture is one of the most vulnerable and adaptation-prone sources of livelihood facing climate change. Joint adaptation planning by farmers and researchers can help develop practically feasible and environmentally and economically sound adaptation actions as well as encourage the proactive building of farm adaptive capacity. Here, the perceptions of Finnish farmers and rural stakeholders regarding intercropping, the cultivation of two or more crop genotypes together in time and space, as a means to prepare for climate change, were collected in an open workshop. Our aim was to identify the potentials and challenges associated with intercropping, its role as an adaptation strategy, and in farm adaptive capacity. Qualitative analysis revealed better yield security, increased nutrient and protein self-sufficiency, soil conservation and maintenance, reduced pathogen pressure and regulation of water dynamics as the main perceived potentials of intercropping. Potentials relating to the farm economy and environment were also recognized. The main challenges associated with intercropping were related to the lack of information on crop variety performance and optimal yielding in mixtures, industry and policy requirements for seed purity, more complicated crop management and harvesting, and the economic risks associated with experimenting with novel mixtures. Nitrogen-fixing legumes; deep-rooted species, such as lucerne (Medicago sativa L.); special crops, such as herbs in forage mixtures; and autumn-sown winter oilseeds and cereals were highlighted as the most promising intercrops. Because the recognized potentials relate to the safeguarding of field cropping from anticipated climate change and the associated weather variability, we conclude that intercropping can serve as one adaptation strategy to strengthen the adaptive capacity of Finnish farms. However, assuring markets and policies that allow the development of intercropping, performing experiments to assess the benefits and implement options in practice, and providing farmers and farm advisors with more knowledge on the method represent the critical prerequisites for the broader adoption of intercropping.
Keywords: Adaptation planning; Adaptive capacity; Climate change; ecological intensification; intercropping; yield security

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

Adaptive management: What it means for CSOs - O’Donnell, Michael (Bond, 2016)
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning approaches in an adaptive management context - Tsui, Josephine (Helpdesk Request, 2016)

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

Delivering institutional reform at scale: Problem-driven approaches supported by adaptive programming - Manuel, Clare (Synthesis Paper, 2, 2016)
LASER synthesis papers aim to help donors and other stakeholders better understand why and how to approach investment climate reform programming differently. The papers reflect emerging best practice and lessons learnt on what works and what does not work in doing development differently. The papers have been peer-reviewed by experts in the field including senior advisers at DFID, World Bank, IFC and the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (amongst others). Second synthesis paper - Delivering institutional reform at scale: problem-driven approaches supported by adaptive programming February 2016 Drawing on our experience on the ground, this peer-reviewed paper suggests how problem driven approaches, supported by adaptive programme management can be implemented at scale in relation to donor programming aimed at institutional reform and improving state capability.
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Seeing (from) Digital Peripheries: Technology and Transparency in Kenya’s Silicon Savannah - Poggiali, Lisa (Cultural Anthropology, 2016)

Evidence Base for Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting: summary of the literature review (2016.08) - Learning Lab (USAID, 2016)
LEARN and USAID/PPL are managing an area of work known as Evidence Base for Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (EB4CLA). The purpose of this work is to answer key learning questions:

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

This startup uses machine learning and satellite imagery to predict crop yields - Brokaw, Alex (The Verge, 2016)
Mark Johnson wants to beat the United States Department of Agriculture at its own game: predicting yields of America's crops. The USDA puts boots on the ground, deploying hundreds of workers to...

Understanding Social Accountability: Politics, Power and Building New Social Contracts - Hickey, Sam; King, Sophie (The Journal of Development Studies, 2016)
Calls to deepen levels of social accountability within social protection interventions need to be informed by the now extensive experience of promoting social accountability in developing countries. Drawing on a systematic review of over 90 social accountability interventions, including some involving social protection, this paper shows that politics and context are critical to shaping their success. We argue that the politics of social protection and of social accountability resonate strongly with the broader project of transforming state-society relations in developing countries. This requires a reconceptualisation of social accountability and social protection in terms of the broader development of ‘social contracts’, and that the current emphasis on promoting bottom-up forms of accountability needs to be balanced by efforts to strengthen and legitimise public authority in developing countries.

Payment by Results in Development Aid: All That Glitters Is Not Gold - Clist, Paul (The World Bank Research Observer, 2016)
Payment by Results (PbR), where aid is disbursed conditional upon progress against a pre-agreed measure, is becoming increasingly important for various donors. There are great hopes that this innovative instrument will focus attention on ultimate outcomes and lead to greater aid effectiveness by passing the delivery risk on to recipients. However, there is very little related empirical evidence, and previous attempts to place it on a sure conceptual footing are rare and incomplete. This article collates and synthesises relevant insights from a wide range of subfields in economics, providing a rich framework with which to analyze Payment by Results. I argue that the domain in which it dominates more traditional forms is relatively small and if it is used too broadly, many of the results it claims are likely to be misleading. The likelihood of illusory gains stems from the difficulty of using a single indicator to simultaneously measure and reward performance: ‘once a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.’ This does not mean PbR should not be used (indeed it will be optimal in some settings), but it does mean that claims of success should be treated with caution.
Keywords: Conditionality; Contract theory; F35; Foreign Aid; Multitask model; performance

Towards characterizing the adaptive capacity of farmer-managed irrigation systems: learnings from Nepal - Thapa, Bhuwan; Scott, Christopher; Wester, Philippus; Varady, Robert (Environmental change assessments, 2016)
Small-scale irrigation systems managed by farmers are facing multiple challenges including competing water demand, climatic variability and change, and socioeconomic transformation. Though the relevant institutions for irrigation management have developed coping and adaptation mechanisms, the intensity and frequency of the changes have weakened their institutional adaptive capacity. Using case examples mostly from Nepal, this paper studies the interconnections between seven key dimensions of adaptive capacity: the five capitals (human, financial, natural, social, and physical), governance, and learning. Long-term adaptation requires harnessing the synergies and tradeoffs between generic adaptive capacity that fosters broader development goals and specific adaptive capacity that strengthens climate-risk management. Measuring and addressing the interrelations among the seven adaptive-capacity dimensions aids in strengthening the long term sustainability of farmer-managed irrigation systems.

Adaptive programming in practice: shared lessons from the DFID-funded LASER and SAVI programmes - Derbyshire, Helen; Donovan, Elbereth (Synthesis Paper 3, 2016)
LASER synthesis papers aim to help donors and other stakeholders better understand why and how to approach investment climate reform programming differently. The papers reflect emerging best practice and lessons learnt on what works and what does not work in doing development differently. The papers have been peer-reviewed by experts in the field including senior advisers at DFID, World Bank, IFC and the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (amongst others).
Keywords: IMPORTANT; Practice

Alignment at Scale - Kniberg, Henrik (Agile Africa, 2016)

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.

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 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.

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!

Politics matters, so what? Time for bigger bets (and more learning) on adaptive programming - Alan (www.globalintegrity.org, 2016)
By Alan Hudson, Executive Director, Global Integrity, July 26, 2016 Politics matters. Context too. And blueprints have limited value. Our strategy is based on these insights, so we’re totally on board. A World Development Report (WDR) that puts power and politics...

Adaptive development: great progress and some niggles - Vowles, Pete (Medium, 2016)
After 3 years in DFID headquarters, championing adaptive approaches to the delivery of aid and development programmes, I am back in an…

mHero and the Principles for Digital Development: Development Done Right | iHRIS (2016)

If politics is the problem, how can external actors be part of the solution? - Devarajan, Shantayanan; Khemani, Stuti (The World Bank, 2016)
Despite a large body of research and evidence on the policies and institutions needed to generate growth and reduce poverty, many governments fail to adopt these policies or establish the institutions. Research advances since the 1990s have explained this syndrome, which this paper generically calls
Keywords: IMPORTANT

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

Adaptive Management Leaders Launch Practical Adaptation Network (PAN) - Labs, Feedback (FeedbackLabs, 2016)
Great things can happen at the frontier of theory and practice. When Feedback Labs worked with USAID’s Global Development Lab to bring together leaders in adaptive management at the White House on June 15th, we were pleased that we were able to move past the ongoing conceptual conversations toward discussing what we could do in concrete terms to implement adaptive management in practice.

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…

Strategy Deployment and Spotify Rhythm - Scotl, Karl (AvailAgility, 2016)
Last month, Henrik Kniberg posted slides from a talk he gave at Agile Sverige on something called Spotify Rhythm - "Spotify’s current approach to getting aligned as a company". While looking through the material, it struck me that what he was describing was a form of Strategy Deployment. This interpretation is based purely on those slides - I haven't had a chance yet to explore this more deeply with Henrik or anyone else from Spotify. I hope I will do some day, but given that caveat, here's how I currently understand the approach in terms of the X-Matrix Model.

Using beneficiary feedback to improve development programmes: findings from a multi-country pilot - World Vision (World Vision, 2016)
This briefing summarises the findings from Beneficiary Feedback Mechanisms pilots and is intended to inform organisations and their funders about the development and implementation of feedback mechanisms.

Fall in love with the solution, not the problem - Quaggiotto, Giulio; Leurs, Bas; Hazeldine, Shaun (Nesta, 2016)
Three strategies for international development organisations to solve problems without defining them.

The road to adaptive management: knowledge, leadership, culture and rules - Byrne, Karri Goeldner; Sparkman, Timothy; Fowler, Ben (The BEAM Exchange, 2016)
Keywords: IMPORTANT; Practice

Social network analysis handbook: connecting the dots in humanitarian programs - IRC (International Rescue Committee, 2016)
The following handbook is designed to provide a step by step guide to the application of Social Network Analysis for the IRC.
Keywords: IMPORTANT

The Scrum Guide - Schwaber, Ken; Sutherland, Jeff (scrum.org, 2016)

External Review of the Building Effective and Accessible Markets (BEAM) programme - Snedden, Ewan; Freer, Gordon; Moffatt, Michelle (WYG International, 2016)

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.

ADAPT: Analysis Driven Agile Programming Techniques - IRC (International Rescue Committee (IRC), 2016)
A growing body of research indicates that aid agencies are most successful when able to operate flexibly, particularly in fragile environments. Yet our systems and tools are often too rigid to effectively address complex problems, and program incentives frequently undermine adaptation instead of supporting it. To drive improvements in impact we need to be better able to analyse the dynamics of a given situation, anticipate how these might evolve, and be sufficiently agile to adapt to changes in context and need.

A Low-resource Aware Framework for ICT Service Development in Rural Africa - Bon, Anna; Gordijn, Jaap; Akkermans, Hans (28th International Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering, 2016)
Technological innovation and information & communication technologies (ICTs) are considered enabling factors for social and economic development, even in very poor parts of the world. However,...

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

Participation in ICT Development Interventions: Who and How? - Thapa, Devinder; Sæbø, Øystein (The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 2016)
The aim of participatory development (PD) in the context of using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for development (ICT4D) is to empower underprivileged communities and disadvantaged segments of the stakeholders. The literature on ICT4D is replete with empirical evidence showing that ICT interventions often fail since they are often externally initiated, with very limited involvement from the affected (Heeks, 2002). Clearly, the principles and concepts of PD are relevant to ICT4D. However, we should not consider PD a panacea but need to understand the caveats and processes by which PD happens. Questions to ask include: What are the various challenges in PD? Who are the relevant stakeholders? Why and how do actors enrol in the project? How do we create sustainable ICT4D projects through PD? To understand these research questions, we present a case analysis of a project in Nepal called the Nepal Wireless Networking Project (NWNP). Investigating the specific initiatives that they enabled, telemedicine, education and jobs, we propose that the key participants in the NWNP were activist actors and the affected and that activists drew upon existing Social Capital to enrol the affected through a process explained by Actor Network Theory (ANT). In the process, they built other forms of Social Capital, which in turn extended the benefits of PD to several mountain villages.

Where have we got to on adaptive learning, thinking and working politically, doing development differently etc? Getting beyond the People’s Front of Judea - Algoso, Dave; Hudson, Alan (From Poverty to Power, 2016)
Dave Algoso and Alan Hudson at Global Integrity compare and contrast 9 different initiatives that are all heading in roughly the right direction in aid reform
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Spotify Rhythm - how we get aligned - Kniberg, Henrik (Agile Sverige, 2016)
Last month, Henrik Kniberg posted slides from a talk he gave at Agile Sverige on something called Spotify Rhythm - "Spotify’s current approach to getting aligned as a company". While looking through the material, it struck me that what he was describing was a form of Strategy Deployment. This interpretation is based purely on those slides - I haven't had a chance yet to explore this more deeply with Henrik or anyone else from Spotify. I hope I will do some day, but given that caveat, here's how I currently understand the approach in terms of the X-Matrix Model.

Getting strategic: vertically integrated approaches - Aceron, Joy; Isaac, Francis (Institute of Development Studies, 2016)
Holding power to account requires understanding where power lies and how it is exercised. It entails understanding how decisions are made, who makes them and what decision criteria are used to make them. Vertically integrated civil society action takes into account how power is exercised and how decisions are made in a given policy, programme or process.

Accountability ecosystems: directions of accountability and points of engagement - Halloran, Brendan (IDS, 2016)
Accountability, the obligation of those in power to take responsibility for their actions, is a process involving relationships between different actors (in state and society) and mechanisms, and is influenced by many contextual factors. Using the lens of an accountability ‘ecosystem’ focuses our attention on the complexity of accountability processes. An ‘ecosystem’ perspective suggests that simple ideas about accountability – such as citizen feedback reaching decision-makers ensures more accountability, or that greater transparency equals greater accountability – are often actually much more complex.

Transforming governance: how can technology help reshape democracy? - Leighninger, Matt (Institute of Development Studies, 2016)
Around the world, people are asking how we can make democracy work in new and better ways. We are frustrated by political systems in which voting is the only legitimate political act, concerned that many republics don’t have the strength or appeal to withstand authoritarian figures, and disillusioned by the inability of many countries to address the fundamental challenges of health, education and economic development. If we want to create democracies in which citizens have meaningful roles in shaping public decisions and solving public problems, we should be asking a number of questions about civic tech, including: • How can online tools best support new forms of democracy? • What are the examples of how this has happened? • What are some variables to consider in comparing these examples? • How can we learn from each other as we move forward? This background note has been developed to help democratic innovators explore these questions and examine how their work can provide answers.

Experiential Learning: Fostering lasting behavioural change - Norton, Brittney M. (Prospects practice paper, 4, 2016)
The term ‘experiential learning’ is often mistakenly used to describe any learning experience that involves participatory activities. This paper presents an overview of what true experiential learning is and how this form of learning allows for real-world application - thus promoting lasting behavioural change. Furthermore, it explains how experiential learning was adopted as the methodological core of the Prospects psychosocial programme in Liberia, which builds ‘pre-employment skills’ in 3,500 vulnerable youth aged 15-24 years. The goal of the paper is to provide other youth and education development practitioners with a resource that can be used to strengthen youth and behaviour change programmes through the incorporation of the experiential learning theory. In addition, this paper explains its application in the Prospects programme, before concluding with key considerations of such a design. 1

The Methods Lab evaluation toolkit - ODI (2016)
The Methods Lab develops and tests flexible approaches to impact evaluation for interventions that are harder to evaluate because of their complexity. This toolkit brings together analysis, guidance and templates for anyone: planning an impact evaluation designing a monitoring and evaluation system working in a consortium or managing a portfolio of projects

Has Kenya’s ICT revolution triggered more citizen participation? - Salome, Nyambura (MAVC Research Briefing, 2016)
Lessons from policy in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Primer: Technology to monitor and share information on rainforests and forest people's rights - The Engine Room (The Engine Room & Rainforest Foundation Norway, 2016)

Designing Regenerative Cultures - Wahl, Daniel Christian (Triarchy Press Ltd, 2016)
This is a 'Whole Earth Catalog' for the 21st century: an impressive and wide-ranging analysis of what's wrong with our societies, organizations, ideologies, worldviews and cultures - and how to put them right. The book covers the finance system, agriculture, design, ecology, economy, sustainability, organizations and society at large. In this remarkable book, Daniel Wahl explores ways in which we can reframe and understand the crises that we currently face, and he explores how we can live our way into the future. Moving from patterns of thinking and believing to our practice of education, design and community living, he systematically shows how we can stop chasing the mirage of certainty and control in a complex and unpredictable world. The book asks how can we collaborate in the creation of diverse regenerative cultures adapted to the unique biocultural conditions of place? How can we create conditions conducive to life? *** "This book is a valuable contribution to the important discussion of the worldview and value system we need to redesign our businesses, economies, and technologies - in fact, our entire culture - so as to make them regenerative rather than destructive." --Fritjof Capra, author of The Web of Life, co-author of The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision *** "This is an excellent addition to the literature on ecological design and it will certainly form a keystone in the foundations of the new MA in Ecological Design Thinking at Schumacher College, Devon. It not only contains a wealth of ideas on what Dr Wahl has termed 'Designing Regenerative Cultures' but what is probably more important, it provides some stimulating new ways of looking at persistent problems in our contemporary culture and hence opens up new ways of thinking and acting in the future." -- Seaton Baxter OBE, Prof. in Ecological Design Thinking, Schumacher College, UK [Subject: Systems Thinking, Education, Social Anthropology, Environmentalism, Ecology, Regenerative Culture, Sociology]

Doing Anti-corruption Differently - Jorge (www.globalintegrity.org, 2016)
By Alan Hudson, Executive Director Corruption and how to tackle it is center-stage in London this week, with the spotlight brighter than ever as a result of the Panama Papers. This is welcome news. The Anti-Corruption Summit, hosted by the...

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

When theory meets reality: assumptions, feasibility and implications of a complexity-informed approach - Buffardi, Anne (Methods Lab, 2016)
Over the last half century, repeated calls for adaptive learning in development suggests two things: many practitioners are working in complex situations that may benefit from flexible approaches, and such approaches can be difficult to apply in practice. • Complexity thinking can offer useful recommendations on how to take advantage of distributed capacities, joint interpretation of problems and learning through experimentation in complex development programmes. • However, these recommendations rely on underlying assumptions about relationships, power and flexibility that may not hold true in practice, particularly for programmes operating in a risk averse, results-driven environment. • This paper poses guiding questions to assess the fit and feasibility of integrating complexity informed practices into development programmes.

Reforming solid waste management in Phnom Penh - Denney, Lisa (Working Politically in Practice, 2016)
This paper tracks the efforts of an Asia Foundation team and local stakeholders as they worked to support improvements in the solid waste management sector in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The team worked in a flexible way with a range of partners, and with particular focus on understanding the incentives and politics affecting service delivery. While reform of the sector remains in progress, steps have been taken to introduce more competition and better public sector management of solid waste collection in the city. This case study lays out the real-time decisions and processes which drove the strategy and implementation of this project, providing useful insights into how politically astute and flexible programs can be successfully implemented. This case has emerged from an action research process, which was led by a researcher from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and conducted over the course of almost two years. By capturing and analyzing the experiences of the program team in Phnom Penh, the paper intends to provide practical insights for others in the development community aiming to implement similar kinds of programming.

You Cannot Go it Alone: Learning from Cooperative Relationships in Civil Society Budget Campaigns - Larsen, Jillian (IBP, 2016)
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Wheeling in the Trojan Mice - Mahendra, Jackie (Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2016)
One way to make risk-taking more palatable for social change organizations is to run small, light, nimble experiments––tests not built to win wars, but rather to quickly infiltrate new territory, attack new problems, and inform future tactics.

Rewards and Risks Associated with Community Engagement in Anti-Poaching and Anti-Trafficking - Wilkie, David; Painter, Michael; Jacob, Anila (Measuring Impact, 2016)
This Biodiversity Technical Brief summarizes research on the roles communities do and should play in countering wildlife crime, motivations, and benefits for individuals and communities to engage in anti-poaching and anti-trafficking efforts, and risks and mitigation of risks associated with involvement. Peer-reviewed and grey literature, structured interviews, and case studies informed the research, with highlights from six case studies in Peru, Madagascar, Namibia, Philippines, Kenya, and Indonesia.

“There’s no money for that.” Three Ways to Resource Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting - Salib, Monalisa (USAID Learning Lab, 2016)
This blog is the third in an ongoing series exploring the components of USAID's CLA Framework. Here is the first blog on organizational culture and the second on effective learning.

Digital Technologies for Democratic Governance in Latin America: Opportunities and Risks - Breuer, Anita; Welp, Yanina (Routledge, 2016)
This book is the first to comprehensively analyse the political and societal impacts of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in a region of the Global South. It evaluates under what conditions some Latin American governments and people have succeeded in taking up the opportunities related to the spread of ICTs, while others are confronted with the pessimist scenario of increased, digitally induced social and democratic cleavages. Specifically, the book examines if and how far the spread and use of new ICT affected central aims of democratic governance such as reducing socio-economic and gender inequality; strengthening citizen participation in political decision making; increasing the transparency of legislative processes; improving administrative processes; providing free access to government data and information; and expanding independent spaces of citizen communication. The country case and cross-country explore a range of bottom-up driven initiatives to reinforce democracy in the region. The book offers researchers and students an interdisciplinary approach to these issues by linking it to established theories of media and politics, political communication, political participation, and governance. Giving voice to researchers native to the region and with direct experience of the region, it uniquely brings together contributions from political scientists, researchers in communication studies and area studies specialists who have a solid record in political activism and international development co-operation.

Simple Habits for Complex Times: Powerful Practices for Leaders - Berger, Jennifer Garvey; Johnston, Keith (Stanford University Press, 2016)

The Fallacy of Beneficial Ignorance: A Test of Hirschman's Hiding Hand - Flyvbjerg, Bent (World Development, 2016)
Albert O. Hirschman's principle of the Hiding Hand stands stronger and more celebrated today than ever. The principle states that ignorance is good in planning,
Keywords: Behavioral economics; Development; Hiding hand; Ignorance; Management

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

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

More books on complexity than you can shake a stick at—plus a mea culpa - Algoso, Dave (Praxis, 2016)
Last month, Duncan Green was kind enough to post my overly ambitious multi-book review on complexity thinking in development on his From Poverty to Power blog. It covered three books: Ben Ramalingam’s Aid on the Edge of Chaos; Jean Boulton, Peter Allen, and Cliff Bowman’s Embracing Complexity; and Danny Burns and Stuart Worsley’s Navigating Complexity in International Development. It...

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...

The Future is a Choice: The Oxfam Framework and Guidance for Resilient Development - Jeans, Helen; Thomas, Sebastien; Castillo, Gina (Policy & Practice, 2016)
This guide provides a framework for Oxfam staff to design programmes and campaigns that contribute to resilient development. Oxfam defines resilience as ‘the ability of women and men to realize their rights and improve their well-being despite shocks, stresses

The era of development mutants - Quaggiotto, Giulio (Nesta, 2016)
If you were looking for the cutting edge of the development sector, where would you go these days?

A Critique of the Claims About Mobile Phones and Kerala Fisherman. The Importance of the Context of Complex Social Systems - Steyn, Jacques (The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 2016)
This paper challenges some fundamental aspects of research and conclusions relating to the use of technology for community development. Views of technology, in this case the mobile phone, as a tool for increased economic welfare are often skewed due to extreme reductionism, ambiguous interview questions and poor data sources. Research of complex social systems or sub-systems give the wrong answers when reductionist methodologies are used. To demonstrate such shortcomings, the 2007 paper of Robert Jensen serves as an example. His conclusion that mobile phones enable Kerala fishermen to increase their economic welfare is the most cited paper on ICT4D topics, but there are fundamental methodological and logical problems with the claim, while other research came to contradictory conclusions. This critique is presented on many levels: ideological, paradigmatic, methodology, logical, statistical and semantic.

Monitoring and Measuring Results in Private Sector Development (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC, 2016)

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.

Time to let go: remaking humanitarian action for the modern era - Bennett, Christina (ODI, 2016)
As the international humanitarian system faces a crisis of legitimacy, the Humanitarian Policy Group’s landmark report proposes a new model of humanitarian action.

Using Evidence - What works? - Breckon, Jonathan; Dodson, Jane (Alliance for Useful Evidence, 2016)

Reflections on implementing politically informed, searching programs: lessons for aid practitioners and policy makers - Cole, William; Ladner, Debra; Koenig, Mark; Tyrrel, Lavinia (Working Politically in Practice, 2016)

Overview for Social Sector Leaders: Assessing Innovation Potential for Social Impact - Global Knowledge Initiative (2016)
We aim to provide decision makers with greater insight and confidence into the process of assessing innovation impact potential. Rather than considering the role innovation plays after an investment is made, or based on historic evaluations of how innovation has or has not delivered solutions to a problem, this approach is forward-looking. This customizable toolset assesses the future impact that innovation can deliver in a system to tackle particularly complex problems

Reforming donors in fragile states: using public management theory more strategically - Gulrajani, Nilima; Honig, Dan (Overseas Development Institute, 2016)
This paper identifies ways in which donors can be more effective in fragile and conflict-affected states by exploiting theories and concepts drawn from public management.

The Science of Using Science: Researching the Use of Research Evidence in Decision-Making - Langer, Laurenz; Tripney, Janice; Gough, David (EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, 2016)

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

Adaptive Management in Practice: a case study on the Prospects program - Maclay, Chris (Prospects practice paper, 1, 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.

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

Built to improve: Leveraging realtime M&E for adaptive youth employment programming - Skelton, John (Prospects practice paper, 2, 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.

Dealing with uncertainty: Reflections on donor preferences for pre-planned project models - Tyrrel, Lavinia; Cole, William (Working Politically in Practice, 2016)
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Stakeholder Engagement for Biodiversity Conservation Goals: Assessing the Status of the Evidence - USAID (Measuring Impact, 2016)
Learning how to communicate and work with different groups builds constituencies to support conservation aims. An analysis by USAID's research partner the American Museum of Natural History evaluated 148 references, selected through a rigorous systematic review process, to identify key lessons for stakeholder engagement. This briefer describes the analysis, which will soon be published in full.

Redesigning Field Papers’ User Interface - Jacks, Lindsey (Cadasta, 2016)
For the past three months, I've been working with Cadasta and Stamen on the atlas creation pages of the Field Papers map annotation tool. The end result is now live on the Field Papers website. We took the four step “wizard” process for creating an atlas, combined it all into a single-page, and...
Keywords: IMPORTANT

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

Technical challenges in the application of adaptive management - Williams, Byron K.; Brown, Eleanor D. (Biological Conservation, 2016)
Adaptive management is an approach for simultaneously managing and learning about natural resources, by acknowledging uncertainty and seeking to reduce it through the process of management itself. Adaptive decision making can be applied to pressing issues in conservation biology such as species reintroduction, disease and invasive species control, and habitat restoration, as well as to management of natural resources in general. After briefly outlining a framework and process for adaptive management, we focus on an overview of the key technical issues related to problem framing and the ability of resource managers to learn from their experience. These technical issues include the treatment of uncertainty and its propagation over time; nonstationarity in long-term environmental trends; the applicability of adaptive management across scales; requirements for models and management alternatives that promote learning; the value of the information produced with adaptive management; the challenge to management of uncertainty and surprise; and institutional (social) learning. To accommodate these and other challenges that are now coming into focus, the learning-based approach of adaptive management will need to be adjusted and expanded in the future.
Keywords: Adaptive Management; Learning; Nonstationarity; Resilience; Uncertainty; Value of information

Politically smart support to economic development: DFID experiences - Booth, David (ODI, 2016)

Evaluating the impact of flexible development interventions using a ‘loose’ theory of change: Reflections on the Australia-Mekong NGO Engagement Platform - Davies, Rick (Methods Lab, 2016)
• For some interventions, tight and testable theories of change are not appropriate – for example, in fast moving humanitarian emergencies or participatory development programmes, a more flexible approach is needed. • However, it is still possible to have a flexible project design and to draw conclusions about causal attribution. This middle path involves ‘loose’ theories of change, where activities and outcomes may be known, but the likely causal links between them are not yet clear. • In this approach, data is collected ‘after the event’ and analysed across and within cases, developing testable models for ‘what works’. More data will likely be needed than for projects with a ‘tight’ theory of change, as there is a wider range of relationships between interventions and outcomes to analyse. The theory of change plays an important role in guiding the selection of data types. • While loose theories of change are useful to identify long term impacts, this approach can also support short cycle learning about the effectiveness of specific activities being implemented within a project’s lifespan.

Sometimes it is about the Tech: Choosing Tools in South African and Kenyan Transparency & Accountability Initiatives - de Lanerolle, Indra; Walker, Tom; Kinney, Sasha (MAVC Research Report, 2016)
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Using political economy analysis in conflict, security and justice programmes - Denney, Lisa (ODI, 2016)

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

Using adaptive development to support feminist action - O’Neil, Tam (ODI, 2016)
This paper looks at how adaptive development is being applied by gender programmes and argues that gender and adaptive development communities have much to offer each other.

‘Learning journeys’ for adaptive management – Where does it take us? - Ørnemark, Charlotte (GPSA Note 12, 2016)
Keywords: IMPORTANT

When and how to develop an impact-oriented monitoring and evaluation system - Peersman, Greet; Rogers, Patricia; Guijt, Irene; Hearn, Simon; Pasanen, Tiina; Buffardi, Anne (2016)
This guidance note focuses on: • what an impact-oriented monitoring and evaluation system entails • why an organisation may want to establish such a system • when integrating an impact-orientation into an monitoring and evaluation system is most useful • what should be considered in developing the monitoring and evaluation system, or in tweaking an existing system, to become more impact-focused. The primary audience for this guidance note is internal and external monitoring and evaluation advisors involved in designing and implementing, and/or assessing monitoring and evaluation systems to include a focus on impact. It will also be useful for senior management of organisations who need to know how best to plan for a sustainable monitoring and evaluation system that supports impact assessment or to adapt an existing system to incorporate an impact perspective.

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

SPACES MERL: Systems and Complexity White Paper - USAID (2016)
The Strategic Program for Analyzing Complexity and Evaluating Systems (SPACES MERL) project is an activity funded by USAID’s Global Development Lab and the Bureau for Policy, Planning and Learning (PPL). This three-year activity aims to bring a variety of tools and methodologies that decision-makers can use (alone or in combination) to provide comprehensive systems analysis. The activity is being implemented from 2015 to 2018 by a consortium of organizations expert in systems and complexity, including the Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC) at Johns Hopkins University (Prime), Global Knowledge Initiative (GKI), LINC and ResilientAfrica Network (RAN). This Systems and Complexity White Paper is a collaborative effort of the SPACES MERL team, designed to frame the international development landscape, with particular reference to USAID-funded activities, for application of systems and complexity approaches to design, monitoring and evaluation. Customized to the systems and complexity layperson with in-depth knowledge of international development practice, the objectives of this white paper are three-fold:  Provide an overview of systems and complexity practice, its current state of application and relevance to international development practice;  Establish a taxonomy of systems and complexity tools, highlighting the fit of those offered by SPACES MERL within the wider landscape; and  Review and provide information on application of SPACES MERL tools, their purpose and construction, required data, and their applicability to specific contexts.

Putting learning at the centre: Adaptive development programming in practice - Valters, Craig; Cummings, Clare; Nixon, Hamish (ODI, 2016)
Adaptive programming suggests, at a minimum, that development actors react and respond to changes in the political and socio-economic operating environment. It emphasises learning and the development practitioner is encouraged to adjust their actions to find workable solutions to problems that they may face. Being prepared to react to change may seem like common sense – and indeed it is. However much development thinking and practice remains stuck in a linear planning model which discourages learning and adaptation, in part because projects are seen as ‘closed, controllable and unchanging systems’ (Mosse, 1998: 5). This paper critically engages with this problem and makes clear why and how learning needs to be at the centre of adaptive development programming. It begins by clarifying why and what kind of learning matters for adaptive programming. The paper then turns its focus to how strategies and approaches applied throughout a programme’s conception, design, management and M&E can enable it to continually learn and adapt.
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Getting Strategic about Technology and Accountability: MAVC Learning and Inspiration Event in Manila - Halloran, Brendan (Politics, Governance and Development, 2016)
Two years ago, Jonathan Fox released a widely read and well-received paper looking at the evidence for citizen-led accountability.  In it, he noted the proliferation of short-term, isolated interve…

Rethinking Participation and Re-enacting Its Dilemmas? Aarhus 2017 and “The Playful Society” - Eriksson, Birgit; Stephensen, Jan Løhmann (Conjunctions. Transdisciplinary Journal of Cultural Participation, 2016)
In 2012 the Danish city of Aarhus was appointed European Capital of Culture for 2017. The appointment was based on an ambitious programme that – under the headline Rethink – tried to set an agenda of societal transformation, mainly by seeking to increase the impact of art and culture, and to enhance civic participation at all levels of society. In this article we examine one of the first attempts of Aarhus 2017 to realize these grand ambitions: ‘The Playful Society’, a series of micro grants aimed at enabling young people to make their own art/culture projects and participate in the overall Rethink project. Informed by theoretical distinctions between different forms of participation, and the diverse interests invested in participatory processes, we investigate how the young cultural entrepreneurs and the artistic administrators of Aarhus 2017 separately, in conjunction, and sometimes even in opposition to each other, translated these overall ambitions into practice. We argue that they illuminate some of the dilemmas of contemporary cultural participation, including the importance of question- ing who participates in what, how they do it, and in what context.
Keywords: Cultural Entrepreneurship; Participation; youth

Participation as assemblage: Introducing assemblage as a framework for analysing participatory processes and outcomes - Stage, Carsten; Ingerslev, Karen (Conjunctions. Transdisciplinary Journal of Cultural Participation, 2016)
The article presents a yet unexplored framework for analysing the multidimensionality and dis/connections of participatory processes and their outcomes by using the concept of the ‘assemblage’ (DeLanda, 2006). The case is an eight-month collaboration between a task force initiated by Central Denmark Region, the socio-economic company Sager der Samler, and citizens. The collaboration is aimed at bringing together and working across various institutional and user perspectives to act on a societal challenge. The analysis is theoretically based on a review of existing theories of participation and typologies for analysing and evaluating participation. In particu- lar, the analysis focuses on the assemblage approach as a way of acknowledging the institutional, affective, mate- rial and power-related complexity of participatory processes. The assemblage approach helps to analytically stress that the process under investigation should be evaluated both with a more traditional focus on decision-making or power allocation, as well as taking into account the social, personal-affective and material benefits produced, and the potential for change in the relationship between public administration and citizens.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Program Cycle Road Map - USAID (2016)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Building capability by delivering results: Putting Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) principles into practice - Andrews, Matt; Pritchett, Lant; Samji, Salimah; Woolcock, Michael (A Governance Practitioner’s Notebook: Alternative Ideas and Approaches, 2015)
The Governance Practitioner’s Notebook takes an unusual approach for the OECD-DAC Network on Governance (GovNet). It brings together a collection of specially written notes aimed at those who work as governance practitioners within development agencies. It does so, however, without attempting to offer definitive guidance – instead aiming to stimulate thinking and debate. To aid this process the book is centred on a fictional Governance Adviser. The Notebook’s format provides space for experts to speak on today’s governance issues: politics, public sector reform and stakeholder engagement. It encourages debate, charts the evolution of donor thinking, and highlights future challenges in the age of the Sustainable Development Goals. Each section introduces both technical issues and major areas of debate, providing ideas for future development support to institutional reform.
Keywords: IMPORTANT

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