High expectations of PME

1. Outcome Mapping: fromalternative to mainstream?The OM usefulness barometerOM Master Class - 26 March 2013, BrusselsJan Van Ongevallejan.vanongevalle@kuleuven.be

2. High expectations of PME Address a growingcall to show results Satisfyingmultiple accountabilityneeds To show resultsthat are difficult to measure Stimulatinginternallearningprocesses Learningaboutunexpectedresults

3. Extra challengingwhendealingwithprocesses of complex change? • Multiple actors,different perspectives and different forms of interaction • Multiple accountability needs • Unpredictable and non-linear link between cause and effect, therefore important to learn quickly what works and what doesn’t. • When dealing with complex change you need to be able to change as well.

4. 10 NGOs in action-research (2010-2012, PSO & HIVA Clientsatisfactioninstruments Vredeseilanden ETC Foundation Personal goal exercises http://www.outcomemapping.ca/resource/resource.php?id=404

5. How canactorfocused PME help in dealingwithprocesses of complex change

6. OM usefulness barometer (2012-2013) - Methodology • Launch of websurveyonthe outcomemappinglearningcommunity • Websurveyrespondents (N=43) • 15 interviews • 2 additional case studies

7. General info aboutsurveyrespondents

8. OM and multiple actors and relationships (N=43) One respondent disagreed: “being both a capacity builder and donor made roles and responsibilities confusing despite OM”

9. How does OM help to deal with multiple actors? 1. Providing a practical framework for actor focused PME • 3. A framework for building trust 2. Stimulating conversation and dialogue

10. OM and learning • Learning aboutsmallincrementalchanges at the level of boundarypartners (newresultarea). • Becoming more specificabouteffectsyou hope to contribute to. • Motivating to seethatyoucan monitor these smallincrementalchanges • OM nogarantee for learning

11. Monitoringeffectsthat are difficult to quantify…. Monitoring changes in behaviour (Global Water Partnership): • On 8 September 2009, officials representing key Vietnamese government organizations agreed to adopt a recommendation on strengthening River Basin Organisation in Vietnam following an Integrated Water Resource Management approach in basins The recommendation was adopted by government officials after having discussion in a Dialogue on River Basin Management in Vietnam organized by GWP’s affiliate the Vietnamese Water Partnership.

12. Monitoringunexpectedeffects E.g.: Sustainable Agriculture Programme - Pacific Islands and Territories One of the love to see progress markers for the targeted villages read as follows: “sharing lessons and experiences with the other villages”. It was an unexpected surprise for the programme team to learn during the monitoring process that it was not the targeted village communities that took the initiative to share experiences but instead the surrounding villages invited them to come and share new technologies for improving their agriculture production. This happened without any support from the programme.

13. Satisfyingaccountabilityneeds

14. Accountabilitytowards the donor • Monitoring reports more focused on a programme’s outcomes instead of its outputs. • helps to report on how outcomes were obtained and how the programme was able to contribute to them. • OM can complement other PME approaches that are mandated by the donor. • ButOM offers no garantee that donor’s information needs will be met: • donors don’t always want info about capacity development. • Appetite for quantitative information • Effort to translate OM information in info that donors need

15. Innovativeways of visualising OM information

16. Satisfyingaccountabilityneeds of… boundary partners In case BPs are activelyinvolved in the monitoringprocess…… butmaytakeconsiderableeffort and notalwayspossible. finalbeneficiaries Need to go beyond the OM tools and methods to strengthen downward accountability

17. Adaptivecapacity Challenges: • Time & resources • Stimulatinginformallearningspaces • Capacity to facilitatereflection

18. head: agenda for OM arms: concepts, methods, tools of OM spine: values, principles of OM legs: support for the implementation of OM Potentialchallenges for OM implementation

19. What do we hear in the corridorsabout PME policy? We are notusingalternative PME approachesbecauseit is notallowedbyour donor. Whyexperimentingwithalternative PME approaches? Start byimplementing the logframeapproach more effectively. Policy makers are not interested in learning. They just want to know if we achieved our indicators

20. Space for experimentation within existing PME policy? (2010 Survey:http://www.outcomemapping.ca/resource/resource.php?id=407 )

21. Recommendations Practitioners • Fromresultsbased management towardsresultsbasedlearning • Considerableeffort to nurture a learning culture: time, resources, managment support • Don’tuse donor requirements as excuse for notinvesting in learningaboutresults Donors • Makefunded programs accountable for theirlearningaboutresults • Usewidernotion of results • Ask for actorfocusedtheories of change and accept that these canchange over time • Developown PME capacity

22. Development is notonlyabout…. • .... problems that can be fixed • ...but also about complex processes of social change; where a diversity of actors challenges current practice and experiments with alternatives

23. Opportunities for further research • Develop more insight in the percievedusefulness of OM among donors and boundary partners. • More longitudinal case study research. • Explorehowusing OM contributes to bringing the complex story of development and howthismay help towardsdevelopmenteducation of the general public in donor countries.

24. Sowhat is yourpositionon the OM usefulness barometer? Thankyou!! jan.vanongevalle@kuleuven.be