Designing evaluation and communication for adaptive management (DECI-AM) for DIG

Strategic learning and communications for development is challenging and requires agility and forward thinking. Projects and organizations need adaptive strategies tailored to complex and changing contexts to ensure that research contributes to positive change in policy ecosystems. IDRC’s Democratic and Inclusive Governance (DIG) team is aiming to help partners improve organizational learning and research communications so that the data and evidence generated by their work will have a wider impact outside the immediate research community. Doing this effectively is not always straightforward, and DIG would like to test approaches that have been effectively deployed in other program areas.

This project will provide organizational capacity building for DIG-supported partners, such as digital think tanks, data hubs and observatories, in utilization-focused evaluation, research communication and adaptive management to improve the impact of their research work. The approach will equip organizations with embedded evaluation thinking and communication strategies for their overall programming, as well as a capacity to adapt their strategies and management.

This phase will place emphasis on supporting an adaptive management process aimed at supporting projects to adjust their project strategies during implementation to maximize impact. This approach requires researching and supporting the mechanisms by which mentoring in evaluation and communication leads to adaptive management. The methodology also brings together a combination of evaluation, communication and learning methods and provides capacity development through just-in-time mentoring during the full project cycle.