A Theory of Change for Knowledge Mobilization

Anne Middleton and Elizabeth Whitmore

Presented at the KM Forum, Mississauga, Ontario, June 4, 2013

Community First: Impact of Community Engagement

(CFICE)

• 7 year project (2012-2019)– Funded by Canadian Government

(SSHRC)– Supported by non-governmental

foundations

• National in Scope (130 key players)– Universities and Colleges – Not For Profit Community Organizations – Networks

Role of the KMb Hub in CFICE

Principles for KMb in CFICE

• Community first: products are valuable to communities

• Products are useful to leverage change in institution and government policies/programs

• Products are co-created and co-disseminated

Theory of Change

Plan of action which systematically tests the assumptions that your actions and knowledge products will produce predicted results.

Example of Theory of Change

Putting on a Webinar– What are the assumptions (implicit or explicit) which drive this activity?

Does this activity uphold the principle that the webinar is of value to the community based organization?

Input – Resources for advertising, registration and evaluation Assume Cost/ Benefit ratio is justified

Activity – Running the WebinarAssume people will attend as topic is of interest

Output – Report on content and attendanceAssume attendance data reflect interest in topic

Outcome – People will both have capacity and will use ToC Assume those attending will get value from the

information

KMb Hub Theory of Change

KM Products: Guidelines, Fact Sheets, Models, Publications, Website, Workshop Reports, Community of Practice, Reference Database

Body of Actionable Knowledge Enhanced

Barriers to Knowledge

Sharing Addressed

Build CFICE Public Face (Design Website and Social Media)

Build Communities through relationship and Network development

Create PresentationsPublications, KMProducts

Develop Audience Targeted materials ( Art, Videos)

Organize Workshops, Conferences, Webinars, Symposia

Conduct Research

Facilitate Intra-Hub Cohesion and Communication

Active Learning

Community Established

Products Co

Developed

Improved Levels of

Trust

ACTIVITIES

OUTPUTS

OUTCOMES

The Change CurveD

esi

red

Ch

ange

Resources

• Where we are now (2013)

• Where we want to be in 2016

• Acceptable/Appropriate for 2019

• Optimum Change

Identified KMb Outcomes for CFICE

• Levels of trust between partners improved• Products co-developed• Body of actionable knowledge enhanced• Strong active learning community established• Identified barriers to knowledge sharing addressed

Theory of Change Identify and test the assumptions that our planned activities will lead to these outcomes?

Questions

What other KMb activities could we do?

How do we know that the activities will lead to the desired outcomes?