The value of engagementJohn Young j.young@odi.org.uk

Laura Harper l.harper@wellcome.ac.uk

1. Buzz: “What do you think would constitute good evidence of the value of public engagement?”

2. Presentation: Some approaches to measuring, learning and sharing knowledge.

3. Groups: What do we need to learn and share about engagement, and how we’d like to do it?

Introduction

Why worry about it• Because WT is.• Because all other research donors

are.• Because we all think it’s important, but

don’t really know what works:– How (exactly) does research influence

policy?– Should we invest energy engaging with

legislators or bureaucrats or the media or the public, or schoolchildren?

– Are we even achieving what we’re aiming to achieve?

EvidenceDiscuss with your neighbours:

“What do you think would be convincing evidence of the value of public engagement?”

Write down whatever you come up with.

The DELIVERI ProgrammeDeveloping, testing and promoting new forms of animal health services in Indonesia:

•Pilot projects with farmers & field staff

•Training and capacity development for all•Institutional development•Quality management•Communication & advocacy

“The DELIVERI programme has developed some useful models of institutional change in the context of decentralisation, making a government service more responsive to the needs of local people”1

1 DFID Country Strategy Paper for Indonesia Sept. 2000

ODI and RAPID• UK’s leading development

Think Tank.• RAPID: Promoting greater

use of research-based evidence in development policy & practice– Research / Advice / Information

and Capacity Development– Working with all stakeholders– Case studies, frameworks,

toolkits– evidence-based policy in

development network (ebpdn)

www.odi.org.uk / www.odi.org.uk/rapid

Forms of “engagement”With policy-makers, practitioners and communities to:•Identify problems & issues for research

•Develop research projects and methodologies

•Undertake the research

•Feedback, discuss and validate the results of research

•Formulate solutions – policies and programmes

•Implement the solutions – training and capacity development

•Evaluate their effectiveness

Forms of “engagement”...and we do it through:•(Literature reviews)•Telephone calls, e-mail, (and video conferences)•Face to face 1:1 meetings & field trips•Meetings, workshops & seminars•Collaborative work / projects•Sharing draft outputs for comment•Web 2 – blogs, wikis, discussion groups•Print & web publications•The media

Monitoring and Evaluation

Agenda Setting

DecisionMaking

Policy Implementation

Policy Formulation

Policy processes are complex

Civil Society

DonorsCabinet

Parliament

Ministries

Private Sector

Chronic Poverty in Uganda

Kate Bird et al, Fracture Points in Social Policies for Chronic Poverty Reduction, ODI WP242, 2004 (http://www.odi.org.uk/publications/working_papers/wp242.pdf)

Factors influencing uptake

The political context – political and economic structures and processes, culture, institutional pressures, incremental vs radical change.

The evidence – credibility, the degree it challenges received wisdom, research approaches and methodology, simplicity of the message, how it is packaged.

External Influences Socio-economic and cultural influences, donor policies etc

The links between policyand research communities – networks, relationships, power, competing discourses, trust, knowledge etc.

www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Tools/Toolkits/RAPID_Framework.html

A Practical Framework

External Influences political context

evidencelinks

Politics and Policymaking

Media, Advocacy, Networking

Research, learning & thinking

Scientific information exchange & validation

Policy analysis, & research

Campaigning, Lobbying

www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Tools/Toolkits/Policy_Impact/Framework_qus.html

Health Care in Tanzania

“The results of household disease surveys informed processes of health service reform which contributed to a 43 and 46 per cent reduction in infant mortality between 2000 and 2003 in two districts in rural Tanzania.”

TEHIP Project, Tanzania: www.idrc.ca/tehip

What should you measure?It depends what you’re trying to do….

“If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there”

Should be:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Time-bound

(Objective)

Whatever you measure

...and many projects fail when the inputs cease...

Change takes a long time

Inputs Activities Outputs Outcomes Impact

Other Actors

Project Effort

Behaviour Change

Focusing on change

OUTCOME MAPPING:Building Learning and Reflection into Development ProgramsSarah Earl, Fred Carden, and Terry Smutylo

www.idrc.ca/en/ev-9330-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Tools/Toolkits/KM/Outcome_mapping.html

Emphasis on “learning”

“…every time we do something again, we should do it better than the last time…”

Goals ResultsActivities

Learnduring

Learnafter

Learnbefore

External networks; Colleagues; Information assets; Own knowledge

www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Tools/Toolkits/KM/Index.html

Starts with the attitude that someone has probably already done what I am about to do.

I wonder who?”

Learning before: Peer Assist

www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Tools/Toolkits/KM/Peer_assists.html

• What was the situation?

• What was the challenge?

• What was done?

• What was the result?

• What lessons can be drawn?

Learning During: Stories

www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Tools/Toolkits/KM/Stories.htmlwww.mande.co.uk/docs/MSCGuide.pdf

Most significant change1.Best stories at each level

2.Synthesis

Stories of change

Horizontal evaluation• Peer review

– Choose the moment– Choose your peers– Limited criteria– e.g. ODI Peer Review

Diagram 8. The Appreciative Inquiry ‘5-D’ model

• Appreciative enquiry– Self-evaluation– CGIAR/CIAT– Workshop

www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Tools/Toolkits/KM/AAR.html

An after action review asks 4 simple questions:

15 minute team debrief, conducted in a “rank-free” environment.

Learning after: AAR

• What was supposed to happen?

• What actually happened?• Why was there a

difference?• What can we learn from it?

Case & Episode Studies• Classical case studies: how did

evidence shape policy decisions?– e.g. IFPRI & IDRC– Overestimate the role of research

www.idrc.ca/en/ev-26606-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

www.ifpri.org/impact/impact.htm

www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Publications/BRP_ITDG.html

www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Projects/PPA0104/Index.html

www.gdnet.org/middle.php?oid=175

• Episode studies: retrospective tracking back from policy change– e.g. PRSPs, SL, AHC– Underestimate the role of research

RAPID Outcome Mapping

www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Publications/RAPID_WP_266.html

Social Network Analysis

www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Tools/Toolkits/KM/Social_network_analysis.html

Other approaches: Public• Citations, webstats, media

logs etc• Surveys

– Quantitative– Qualitative

• Distribution lists and attendance records

• Meeting evaluations• Logs:

– The expected– The unexpected– How you have changed

Evaluation: Practical Guidelines, Research Councils UK. 2002

www.rcuk.ac.uk/cmsweb/downloads/rcuk/publications/evaluationguide.pdf

Other approaches: Policy1. Strategy and direction: Logframes;

Social Network Analysis; Impact Pathways; Modular Matrices

2. Management: ‘Fit for Purpose’ Reviews; ‘Lighter Touch’ Quality Audits; Horizontal Evaluation; Appreciative Inquiry

3. Outputs: Evaluating academic articles and research reports; Evaluating policy and briefing papers; Evaluating websites; Evaluating networks; After Action Reviews

4. Uptake: Impact Logs; New Areas for Citation Analysis; User Surveys

5. Outcomes and impacts: Outcome Mapping; RAPID Outcome Assessment; Most Significant Change; Innovation Histories; Episode Studies

www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Publications/RAPID_WP_281.html

Learning from each other• Face-to-face meetings

• Establishing a network

• E-mail

• Websites

• Collaborative work

• Publications

• D-groups

So...you already are a sort of network

Network Functions

Facilitators / learners

Community builders

Investor /providers

Convenors

Filters

Amplifiers

Support Agency

Keys to Success1. Clear governance. 2. Strength in numbers.3. Representativeness.4. Quality of evidence.5. Packaging of evidence6. Persistence.7. Membership of key individuals.8. Making use of informal links. 9. Complementing official structures. 10.Good use of ICTs.

www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Publications/RAPID_WP_276.html

Or contact Enrique Mendizabal – e.mendizabal@odi.org.uk

Community of practice

“a group of individuals participating in communal activity, and experiencing/continuously creating their shared identity through engaging in and contributing to the practices of their communities”

Wenger, Etienne (1998), Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

ISBN 978-0-521-66363-2 

evidence based policy in development networkTo promote greater use of research-based evidence in development policy & practice•Research•Consultations with CSOs and other stakeholders•Capacity-development•Collaborative action-research•Joint projects•Mutual learning

www.ebpdn.org

To promote greater use of research-based evidence in development policy & practice•Research•Consultations with CSOs and other stakeholders•Capacity-development•Collaborative action-research•Joint projects•Mutual learning

www.ebpdn.org• Meet annually

Interactive map of members

evidence based policy in development network

Further information• MandE News by Rick Davies:

www.mande.co.uk

• Psci-com (practical guides section) by the Wellcome Trust: http://www.intute.ac.uk/healthandlifesciences/pscicom/

• Wellcome Trust Researcher Support Links: www.wellcome.ac.uk/Professional-resources/Researcher-support/WTD026043.htm

• RAPID Website: www.odi.org.uk/rapid

• John Young: j.young@odi.org.uk

Group work – 4 Questions:1. What sort of evidence do you need in

your own project(s) to make sure you are on track (and how to collect it)?

2. What sort of evidence would you like to have about other public engagement projects?

3. How would you like to get that evidence (and share your own)?

4. Who should do what (you, other projects, 3rd party, Wellcome)?

Process• 4 groups, each + facilitator & rapporteur

• Split into 2 sub-groups:1. Own evidence

2. Evidence from others

• Whole group3. How to get it

4. Who should do what

• Max. 3 responses to each question, highlighting the most important.

• Report this back to plenary

• “Discussion” on D-Groups

Focus and location• Policy – in the Auditorium

Fac: Michelle JimenezRap: Greer Van Zyl

• Community – in the Boardroom– Fac: Bella Starling– Rap: Monica Bonaccorso

• Media – in the canteen– Fac: Craig Brierly– Rap: Katrina Nevin Ridley

• Creative/Other – on the Terrace– Fac: Laura Harper– Rap: Marina Joubert