Executive Committee of the Scaling Up Community of Practice

The kickoff meeting for the newly established CoP Executive Committee (ExCom) took place on June 27th. Members of the Committee include: Alexis Bonnell (USAID), John Floretta (J-PAL), Ruth Simmons (ExpandNet), Ben Kumpf (UNDP), Samir Khan (MastercardFoundation), Kristen Molyneaux (MacArthur Foundation), Jonathan Papoulidis (World Vision), Nitika Tolani (MSI), Maria Elena Mangiafico (IFAD), Sabrina Storm (GIZ), Johannes Linn (Brookings), and Larry Cooley (MSI).

The ExCom reviewed and accepted the previously drafted terms of reference for the Committee and had substantive discussions of three organizational issues: criteria for membership in the CoP and its Working Groups; funding for current and future CoP activities; and options for CoP online presence. It was agreed that concrete proposals would be formulated and circulate prior to the next ExCom meeting and that decisions would be taken at that meeting regarding each of these issues.

Working Groups of the Scaling Up Community of Practice

Five Working Groups on scaling up in selected thematic areas are active under the umbrella of the Scaling Up CoP. These are listed below with the names and e-mail addresses of the coordinators. For more information on the agenda of each working group and on how to join a working group, please contact the respective coordinator(s).

We are currently exploring the setting up of a sixth Working Group on Social Enterprises. If anyone is interesting in supporting this idea or joining such a group once set up, please contact Larry ([email protected]) or Johannes ([email protected]).

Working Group topicWorking Group coordinatorsCurrent status of Working Group (WG)
Scaling Up in EducationLarry Cooley
[email protected]

Nitika Tolani
[email protected]
The Education Working group expects to hold its next virtual meeting in September-October 2018.
Scaling Up in Fragile StatesLarry Cooley
[email protected]

Jonathan Papoulidis
[email protected]
Fragile States Working Group members who met during the COP annual meeting last quarter flagged several topics of interest. These topics will be discussed at the next working group teleconference in September/October 2018 with the wider membership to determine the group’s future agenda. They include:
• applying scaling-up approaches to bridge humanitarian and development interventions;
• elaborating on the obstacles to scaling in fragile states and how
they have been overcome, or when scaling should not have been attempted (possibly through case studies);
• promoting adaptive, resilient and politically-smart methods for scaling; and
• examining ways to strengthen country institutions and mobilize private sector finance for scaling in a range of fragile contexts.
Jonathan Papoulidis presented the paper that he co-wrote with Larry Cooley on scalable solutions in fragile states at the UNDP “Innovation
Conversations” series in May (invited by CoP steering committee member, Benjamin Krumpf) and at the Global Solutions Summit at UN Headquarters in June (invited by CoP member and Summit Chair, Alfred Watkins). Larry and Jonathan are currently working on a follow-on paper that examines the complex coordination and adaptive management functions necessary for scaling-up in fragile states and how to enable these functions in the face of complex risks and challenges. We hope to share early drafts with the working group for guidance and feedback.
Scaling Up in Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD)Maria Elena Mangiafico (IFAD)
[email protected]

Frank Place (IFPRI)
[email protected]

Laura Schreeg (USAID)
[email protected]
IFAD recently overhauled its scaling up Website (http://www.agriscale4dev.org), which serves as an information resource platform for the Working Group, and potentially for the CoP more generally. Members of the ARD Working Group actively supported the preparation of the conference on scaling up in ARD to be held at Purdue University in September 2018. The Working Group expects to hold its next virtual meeting September-October 2018.
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) for Scaling UpLarry Cooley
[email protected]
The M&E Working Group did not convene during the quarter but has plans to do so in the coming weeks. Building on the work done in its previous three calls, the next discussion will continue to drill down on techniques and guidelines for producing information to support Tier 2 (Refinement, Streamlining, and Scalability Assessment) and Tier 3 (Change Management) scaling needs. This will include discussion of the relevant differences between sectors, the implications of decentralized delivery, and the relationship between M&E for vertical versus integrated programs.
Community of Practice on Systematic Approaches to Scale-up on Family Planning/Reproductive Health Best PracticesLaura J. Ghiron (U.Mich.)
[email protected]
Led by the ExpandNet Secretariat and the Evidence to Action Project, the CoP on Systematic Approaches to Scale up in Global Health serves as the Health Working Group of this Scaling up Development Outcomes CoP. With over twenty organizations represented, since December 2017 the working group has been focusing in depth on the relationship between adaptation and scale up of evidence-based practices. Several members of the CoP have been collaborating on the development of a thought piece for publication as commentary on this topic. The working group is also organizing a technical convening on July 11th on this topic. It will consist of both theoretical presentations as well as sharing of lessons from practical experience, with major opportunities for experience sharing. Two CoP members, the USAID-funded Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP), and the Woodrow Wilson Center organized an event focused on how countries can effectively scale up high-impact health interventions to meet their national health goals. Speakers included Ministry of Health representatives from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Nigeria as well as global development leaders and academics. See: https://www.mcsprogram.org/may-16th-implementing-high-impacthealth-interventions/ for more information and to access the meeting videos.

Special Features

Recent scaling up experience at the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD)

Contact: Maria Elena Mangiafico ([email protected])

IFAD is currently undergoing an Operational Excellence for Results (OpEx) exercise for delivering bigger and better outputs and expanding and scaling up IFAD’s impact. The restructuring exercise aims to establish IFAD as a recognized best-in-class performer throughout the project cycle, from project identification, to design, implementation and results reporting. It addresses all the critical functions of IFAD, both traditional ones such as project design, implementation support and monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and recently added emerging functions such as policy engagement, knowledge management and impact assessment.

The new delivery model provides significant opportunities for IFAD to expand and scale up its impact and will be rolled out by September 2018 with a strong focus on increased decentralization and working closely with partners and stakeholders.

In parallel to these ongoing changes, IFAD continues to pursue a scaling up agenda through the country strategies and projects approved by its Executive Board in April 2018 (https://www.ifad.org/web/guest/doc-detail?sessname=123rd%20session%20of%20the%20 Executive%20Board&sessid=126078) as well as bringing forward initiatives that facilitate scaling up approaches.

One example is the launch of the Rural Solutions Portal (https://ruralsolutionsportal.org/) in June 2018. This unique Portal provides a space for solution sharing and to connect people and ideas for the benefit of rural communities everywhere. The Portal showcases innovations and solutions for agriculture and rural development and promotes knowledge sharing and peer-to-peer learning supporting South-South Triangular Cooperation (SSTC). See how you can become a solution provider by visiting the site. IFAD also updated its Website specifically devoted to scaling up in agriculture and rural development (http://www. agriscale4dev.org) and is exploring how this can be put to use more broadly as an information platform for the Scaling Up CoP.

The Fund recently concluded research on a methodology for assessing policy impact. This is especially relevant as the development community views policy engagement as an effective mechanism for scaling up. Development partners agree that policy engagement is a difficult activity to accurately monitor and evaluate, particularly when development agencies are interested in attributing impact to their efforts. The findings of the assessment are summarized in the Research Series Issue 26 – Exploration of a methodology for assessing the impact of policy engagement. What impact and how to assess it?

(https://www.ifad.org/en/web/knowledge/publication/ asset/40318531)

Recent IFAD publications on scaling up:

  • The Support to Farmers’ Organizations in Africa Programme (SFOAP) (2013-2018)” (https://www.ifad. org/en/web/knowledge/publication/asset/40324906) highlights how the program built on the successes and lessons from the pilot phase and scaled up its activities and considerable outreach.
  • Household Methodologies” (https://www.ifad.org/ en/web/knowledge/publication/asset/40253899describes) describes how this powerful methodology that promotes gender equality and women’s empowerment has been replicated and scaled up both in IFAD-support projects and in broader development efforts by local and national partners.
  • The African Postal Financial Services Initiative” (https://www.ifad.org/en/web/knowledge/publication/ asset/40323293): After five years of operation, the APFSI program demonstrated and proved that postal networks can leverage on their existing infrastructure and payment systems to extend the financial ecosystem in rural areas through appropriate partnerships with the private sector.
  • The Business Advantage: Mobilizing private sector-led climate actions in agriculture” (https:// ifad.org/en/web/knowledge/publication/ asset/40321995): This study addresses importance of scaling up and channeling private capital investments in meeting the goal of achieving the Paris Agreement and limiting global warming.
  • Women-led business and value chain development; a case study in Tajikistan”.(https://www.ifad.org/documents/38714170/40253742/csw_tajikistan.pdf/638c72be-f2f8-435a-a040-34ab6add4137) This case study describes the fascinating story of the women-led, export-oriented spinning businesses that produce and sell high value cashgora yarn to the United States market. This initiative scales up the pilot of a previous program and has high potential for even further replication and scale.
  • The Outreach Project: Expanding and scaling up innovative financial inclusion and graduation strategies and tools in Africa” (https://www.ifad.org/en/ web/knowledge/publication/asset/40293378): This program is an example of knowledge transfer of innovative solutions previously tested in various countries of the Latin America and the Caribbean adapted to selected African countries (Gambia, Mozambique, and Tanzania).

“Can’t Wait to Learn” hits the ground running in Uganda

Contact: Kate Radford ([email protected])

Thanks to the development of an implementation protocol based on real time learning, Can’t Wait to Learn – a curriculum-based, educative gaming technology model designed specifically for and by children affected by conflict – has started up in record time in Uganda. Using processes and tools adapted from rigorous documentation and testing in Jordan, Lebanon, and Sudan, the Uganda roll-out has taken just nine months from the time of country entry to the moment when the first children started playing the Uganda Maths game in May 2018. This timeframe includes the partner induction process, needs assessment and co-creation process, game build, teacher and IT training workshops, game installation, roll-out preparation activities (community sensitization, storage facility installation and solar panel installation), and roll out.

Can’t Wait to Learn proposes new solutions to the urgent challenges facing education for children in emergencies. Engaging locally based education stakeholders, such as Ministries of Education and community-based organisations, as well as international expertise in software development, game development and design has resulted in a self-guided serious gaming format accessed on tablets that takes children through Ministry of Education approved curriculum, providing opportunity for them to work toward primary level certification or school re-integration.

Designed for children, by children: Can’t Wait to Learn directly engages children in the development of the programme and game design through an intensive co-creation process – a central tenet to the programme’s key principle of contextualisation. Co-creation occurs on multiple levels and culminates in the development of the locally contextualised content of the game, including the game design, storyline and curriculum. This lowers the threshold for children to engage, particularly if new to technology. Instead of learning to recognize new characters, events and circumstances, children become immersed in a world that reflects their own and focus on math and/or reading.

Rigorous research and learning: During Can’t Wait to Learn’s global start up period, the programme has placed a strong focus on generating an evidence base, with research studies currently on-going in Jordan, Lebanon and Sudan. These were initiated after initial proof of concept and scaled trial studies for Maths in Sudan in 2014 -2015 indicated promise for learning impact. Currently, a practice based evaluative study has just been completed in Lebanon on the Maths game (Arabic language), a pre-post study is on-going in Sudan on the Reading game (Arabic language), and two small proof of concept studies have been completed in Jordan in preparation for a larger study including both reading and maths scheduled for September

– December 2018.  Results of these studies will be used to inform both iterative improvements to the game content and delivery model for scale up across programme countries, and the body of knowledge on learning in the education in emergencies sector more globally.

Scale up ambitions: As research studies come to a close, scale up will also begin in Sudan, Lebanon and Jordan, each targeting differing populations from out of school children through to those in overstretched formal, non-formal and alternative education programmes. This diversity of experience is collectively contributing to a standardised implementation protocol – as tested in Uganda – that will be the basis from which the programme can successfully roll out to diverse education in emergencies contexts, including the most poorly resourced. Can’t Wait to Learn funded supported by Dutch National Postcode Lottery, IEKA Foundation, Google.org, USAID, Humanitarian Education Accelerator, UNICEF and CISCO Foundation.

Back in Uganda, where Can’t Wait to Learn is being implemented as part of the Ministry of Education endorsed Accelerated Education Programme for South Sudanese refugee and vulnerable Ugandan host community children, the first groups of children are playing and giving valuable feedback which will be used to inform large scale roll out set to begin in 2019.

Member News

Billions Institute (Health)

Joe McCannon of Billions Institute co-authored a paper in Health Affairs’ special issue on diffusion on the government’s role in supporting spread and scale. Congress established the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to design, test, and spread innovative payment and service delivery models that either reduce spending without reducing the quality of care or improve the quality of care without increasing spending. CMMI sought to leverage these models to foster market innovation and accelerate the transformation of payment and care delivery to achieve the Triple Aim of better health, better care, and lower cost. This article provides a perspective on the design and execution of CMMI’s five initial models, the resulting outcomes and lessons, and how their core concepts evolved within and spread beyond CMMI. This experience yields three key insights that could inform future efforts by CMMI and public and private payers, including model designs and policy decisions. These insights center on the need for iterative testing and learning guided by market feedback, more realistic time frames to demonstrate impact on cost and quality, and greater integration of models. (https://www.healthaffairs.org/ doi/abs/10.1377/hlthaff.2017.1109?journalCode=hlthaff)

Also see: McCannon, J., Margiotta, B., and A. Zier Alyesh. 2017. “Unleashing Large-Scale Change.” SSIR. In this article, Joe McCannon, Becky Margiotta, and Abigail Zier Alyesh, present eight characteristics that are usually present when large groups of people succeed at working together to create large-scale change. (https://ssir.org/articles/entry/unleashing_large_scale_change)

In their keynote address at the Carnegie Foundation’s 2017 Summit on Improvement in Education, Becky Margiotta and Joe McCannon provide further insights and inspiration to support scaling up solutions. In particular, they discuss the need for adaptation above fidelity. (https://www.carnegiefoundation.org/resources/videos/ becky-margiotta-and-joe-mccannons-2017-summit-keynote-video/)

Contact: Joe McCannon ([email protected])

Brookings (Education)

The Center for Universal Education (CUE) at the Brookings Institution just published Millions Learning Real-time Scaling Labs: Designing an adaptive learning process to support large-scale change in education, which provides in-depth details on the design, methodology, and background for the scaling labs. The report is available here: https://www.brookings.edu/research/ millions-learning-real-time-scaling-labs/.

A summary blog post is available here: https:// www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2018/07/03/a-proposed-blueprint-for-supporting-large-scale-change-in-education/. Also, CUE’s Jenny Perlman Robinson recently published a blog that discusses how her team plans to utilize the principles of improvement science to learn from, document, and support education initiatives in the process of scaling. See her blog: Drawing from improvement science to bridge education research and practice. (https:// www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2018/04/25/drawing-from-improvement-science-to-bridge-education-research-and-practice/)

Contact: Jenny Perlman Robinson ([email protected])

ExpandNet (Reproductive health)

The ExpandNet Secretariat worked creatively over the last quarter to advance both the science and practice of scale up. First, was the drafting of a scientific paper analyzing experience from the Sukh Initiative – a family planning project in Karachi, Pakistan – where ExpandNet had earlier assisted the project to adopt a scaling-up perspective from the outset. The experience provided extraordinary testimony to the important impact that can be achieved by adopting a systematic approach to scaling up from the early stages of a project. The Sukh Initiative influenced not only expansion of innovations and major government decisions to anchor successfully tested interventions in policies but also the funding of other development partners who supported further expansion and institutionalization. These results would not have been possible without intense efforts by Sukh Initiative colleagues to put their scaling-up learning to work.

In terms of practice, one of ExpandNet’s central missions has always been to build local scaling up capacity for country-based scaling-up resource people/teams, which to date has largely been accomplished via direct, hands-on technical assistance with specific projects. In May, we tried a new model to equip country-based ExpandNet members to undertake capacity-building efforts with only limited support via distance from the Secretariat. Dr. Munazza Haris was the first such member to accomplish an extremely well-received capacity-building workshop for 13 governmental, non-governmental and international organizations in Islamabad, Pakistan. In July, ExpandNet members in Senegal will organize an analogous activity for a similar range of institutions which will include donors, UN agencies and national and international NGOs working in the country.

Contact: Laura Ghiron and Ruth Simmons (ljghiron@ umich.edu and [email protected])

Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) (General scaling)

What are the particular features of development projects that are successful in scaling up innovations? After examining this question, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) has prepared scaling-up guidelines and has documented seven scaling-up case examples. Key scaling-up factors can be identified that are common to all the case examples. The successful projects see broad-based impact as part of program planning right from the beginning; they take a multi-level approach, i.e. they operate at local and regional level; they document their experience in standards and manuals; they cooperate closely with the partner; they verify their results; they use incentives to shape project dissemination; they maintain close con[1]tact with the stakeholders and plan for sufficient human and financial resources in good time. The key scaling-up factors have been integrated into the strategic process of planning and implementing projects in the scaling-up guidelines available in four languages:

  • English: http://star-www.giz.de/cgi-bin/get-file/53616c7465645f5f0448f225c71a6d8e19ffe21df[1]0232d5adde99ec884a40fa8a01346cf11bc8f50eb073d[1]de043030ef144aaac4c2e7ad37d518b54b76c00468/giz2018-0272en-scaling-up-guidelines.pdf
  • German: http://star-www.giz.de/cgi-bin/get-file/53616c7465645f5f8b70e4b4b72721b2df7041ec[1]be76819e0bb6b0a41ef088dd6010f63e0e85ad[1]9b34a832a30b2a10f9000ac9e96bc8dee9f9d17b2f[1]cd3bb776/giz20180271de-scaling-up-orientierung.pdf
  • French: http://star-www.giz.de/cgi-bin/get-file/53616c7465645f5f037bc67436cb2d5720b22ac4e[1]1b925a413ee80e50f9035a57149436afbcc71bfb[1]7f377393a721f42ccfd9e9b4c3f35216df8c4ad85423afa/ giz2018-0269fr-scaling-up-orientation.pdf
  • Spanish: http://star-www.giz.de/cgi-bin/get-file/53616c7465645f5f689b7648b5a3fb315307b[1]f0b991e310641dc3553c492dfff8c3a83a2db6d55d6b[1]804c67dbcd4aeb554f12b21a24ef543f98fd9a0ad3e2a34/ giz2018-0270es-scaling-up-orientacion.pdf

In addition, seven case examples are described in detail in the brochure entitled “Scaling-up: How to get an idea up and running” (http://star-www.giz.de/cgi-bin/getfile/53616c7465645f5f2afccb4f2e45c446062ecb00786824588e87126f2498247204b054560f4d0f4fbc67e937c668a6d9c6734b314c8ce0654c1f319bd2067e89/ giz2018-0268en-scaling-up-brochure.pdf ). In these examples, tailor-made solutions are successfully developed and the dissemination process is designed to make progress in reaching the ambitious goals of the 2030 Agenda.

Contact: Sabrina Storm ([email protected])

Fraunhofer-Zentrum für Internationales Management und Wissensökonomie (IMW) (General scaling)

Heiko Gebauer, now at IMW, has engaged in research on scaling up energy, water and sanitation solutions in developing countries in partnership with GIZ, KfW, the Gates Foundation, the World Bank and local institutions. While most conceptual approaches stress external barriers to scaling, Heiko has concentrated on better understanding internal constraints in firms, notfor-profits and social enterprises. He identified various scaling pathways with business models that are necessary for organizations to grow. (see these two articles: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1366271 6.2017.1310033; https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/ full/10.1108/JBS-05-2016-0051). In another article Heiko and his colleagues demonstrate that successful scaling up depends on organizations that are “Born Solution Providers”, i.e., they offer not only narrow technological solutions (e.g., solar panels), but also complementary and more complex organizational and process support. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/ pii/S001985011830018X). Heiko and his colleagues currently work on two further studies: one considers the concept of replication as a scaling mechanism and shows what type of replication serves best for scaling; the other deals with the “scaling paradox” (pilots never fail, but also never scale) and explains, which internal capacities enable organizations to scale quickly.

Contact: Heiko Gebauer ([email protected])

IFAD (Agriculture)

In 2014, IFAD and the Mexican government piloted a new policy approach that goes beyond cash transfers to help eradicate rural policy. Through this pilot project, designed and implemented in partnership with the Centro Latinoamericano para el Desarollo Rural (RIMISP), poor, rural families that receive the small monthly social security payments for the first time have been able to access Government’s agriculture support programs and have increased their productivity and incomes. IFAD and the Government have started to scale up this approach. To learn more, view a short clip about the program: youtu.be/FBTiB9yrZCc

Contact: Maria Elena Mangiafico ([email protected])

Institute for State Effectiveness (ISE) (General scaling)

ISE has found that national programs can serve as platforms to deliver services at scale while fostering capacity building in state institutions and cultivating citizenship ownership of the project. (See “National Programs” – Ch. 9: Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart, Fixing Failed States: A framework for rebuilding a fractured world. Oxford University Press, 2008). In national programs, the state establishes a unified rule set that allows government, private sector, and civil society forces to mobilize to execute critical tasks according to their relative strengths. National programs can operate to deliver a single service (e.g., health, a road network) or to strengthen a unit of government (district government or community councils). One example of a National Program uses community driven development as a mechanism to deliver emergency services at scale. Examples are (a) the Kecamatan Development Project which started as an instrument to deliver relief across Indonesia in the wake of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and has since evolved into the Government’s National Program for Community Empowerment (PNPM), and (b) the National Solidarity Program (NSP) which started in 2002 as a means to establish and support community development councils (CDCs). Such national programs can help to renew fragmented relationships between the state and citizens while empowering communities to implement their own projects.

In Afghanistan, the National Solidarity Program (NSP) is currently transitioning to the new Citizens’ Charter initiative. (See http://www.ccnpp.org/ for more on Citizens’ Charter.) Key issues in the new design included ensuring that the national program facilitated cooperation across government ministries, and that the community councils linked appropriately to district and provincial governments and to line ministries. The design team utilized control cases in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, identifying ways to mitigate risks of elite capture and impacts on vulnerable populations such as IDPs, refugees, and women. As the NSP already operated on a large scale in all of Afghanistan’s provinces, when working with the Afghan government to formulate Citizens’ Charter, the design team focused on scaling up not just for size but for inclusivity. By introducing analytical tools such as a women’s mobility map, awarding Social Inclusion Grants to target poor households, and establishing representation quotas in CDC elections, Citizens’ Charter has supported the expansion of operations by ensuring previously under-served community members receive more of the program’s benefits and are integrated into the planning process. Continued improvement of CDD could lead to the next generation of “pro-poor” national programs that more deeply link the community and state and support institutional capacity-building.

Contact: Clare Lockhart ([email protected])

J-PAL (General scaling)

J-Pal recently rolled out a new series of short papers entitled “Policy Insights” (https://www.povertyactionlab.org/policy-insights). They are 1-2 page summaries highlighting lessons emerging from randomized evaluations on particular topics. When combined with an understanding of context and implementation details, they can serve as helpful insights for policy and program design, including for scaling up.

Contact: John Floretta ([email protected])

Purdue University (Agriculture)

On September 25-27, 2018, Purdue University will host in West Lafayette, IN, a Scale Up Conference, “Innovations in Agriculture: Scaling Up to Reach Millions”, focused on agriculture in developing countries. The conference website (www.purdue.ag/scaleup) gives details, including registration information, the schedule, and the list of persons confirmed for roles as speakers, panelists, and leaders of discussion/breakout groups and case studies. The keynote address will be given by Dr. Akinwumi Adesina (President of the African Development Bank, 2017 World Food Prize Laureate, and Purdue alumnus). The African Development Bank is a partner organization for the conference. Larry Cooley serves as an external advisor in organizing the conference. A number of persons involved in the Agriculture and Rural Development Working Group within the Scale Up Community of Practice will be involved in the program.

Contact: Suzanne Nielsen ([email protected])

R4D (Education)

Education innovations are consistently being surfaced — and some do show evidence of producing quick results. How should we reconcile the promise of new approaches with the more sobering understanding that each alone is unlikely to dramatically alter macro-learning trends? In a recent Brookings Institution blog post on “How to create system-level change in education through innovation, networks and experimentation” R4D’s Molly Jamieson Eberhardt and Mark Roland offer three approaches. https://www.r4d.org/blog/how-to-create-system-level-change-in-education-through-innovation-networks-and-experimentation/

Contact: Molly Jamieson Eberhardt ([email protected])

Syntegral/Evidence to Action (Health)

Syntegral and Evidence to Action/Pathfinder have recently published an article entitled “Public health programming to accommodate the heterogeneity of youth and the complexity of behavior change” in Cogent Arts and Humanities. The article illustrates the use of “inkblot” narratives (those that expect the audience to impose their own meaning on a story) rather than more typical, information-delivery narratives to stimulate behavior change reflection among diverse individuals and groups. The authors argue that the inkblot approach permits broader scale-up of behavioral interventions by guiding the meaning-making processes of youth rather than imposing meaning.

(https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/23311983. 2018.1457763?needAccess=true)

Contact: Joseph Petraglia ([email protected])

USAID (Social enterprises; health)

The Innovation Investment Alliance and Duke University’s Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) is pleased to announce the launch of its latest report – Financing for Scaled Impact: “Best Practices from Successful Social Ventures”. This report (https://static.globalinnovationexchange.org/ s3fs-public/asset/document/Scaling%20Pathways_ Financing%20for%20Scaled%20Impact_0.pdf?goHK759iyLqBu2JoQoGwbaoGOI9j5KIw) reviews best practices from successful social ventures regarding which financing strategies to use and when. Previously released resources include:

The Innovation Investment Alliance is a funding and learning partnership between the Skoll Foundation and USAID’s Global Development Lab, with support from Mercy Corps. To date, the partners have invested almost $50 million in eight proven, transformative social enterprises to scale their impact.

Contact: Lori Kavanaug-Ulku (lkavanaughulku@usaid. gov)

USAID’s Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP) organized an event exploring country-led scale-up of high impact maternal and child health interventions on May 16 at USAID’s Woodrow Wilson Center. (https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/successful-country-led-scale-rmncah-interventions). Country presenters from the Ministry of Health and MCSP in Nigeria, DRC, and Rwanda explored the factors that have led to progress toward sustained impact at scale for selected maternal and child health interventions. There was also a panel of global experts that reflected on how global assistance agencies can best bolster such country-led efforts. Materials from the event, including country briefs, can be found here: https://legacy.mcsprogram.org/scaleforsuccess/?mc_cid=fc270a6931&mc_ eid=046d1c7ce2.

Contact: Jim Ricca ([email protected])

Other Publications, Videos and Events

General

Ann Mei Chang will release her new book on November 6, 2018 – “Lean Impact: How to Innovate for Radically Greater Social Good” (https://www. amazon.com/Lean-Impact-Innovate-Radically-Greater/ dp/1119506603/) In her forthcoming book, Ann Mei Chang, formerly a Silicon Valley executive and Chief Innovation Officer at USAID, asks whether, despite enormous investments of time and money, we are making a dent on the social and environmental challenges of our time. What if we could exponentially increase our impact? Around the world, a new generation is looking beyond greater profits, for meaningful purpose. But, unlike business, few social interventions have achieved significant impact at scale. Inspired by the modern innovation practices popularized by bestseller The Lean Startup that have fueled technology breakthroughs touching every aspect of our lives, LEAN IMPACT turns our attention to a new goal–achieving radically greater social good. Social change is far more complicated than building a new app. It requires more listening, more care, and more stakeholders. To make a lasting difference, solutions must be embraced by beneficiaries, address root causes, and include an engine that can accelerate growth to reach the scale of the needs. Lean Impact offers bold ideas to reach audacious goals through customer insight, rapid experimentation and iteration, and a relentless pursuit of impact. Ann Mei Chang’s book is based on inspiring stories from interviews spanning more than 200 organizations across the U.S. and around the world.

Agriculture

Invitation to submit articles on scaling: The CGIAR research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) is developing a Special Issue with Agricultural Systems journal entitled: “Science of scaling: connecting the pathways of agricultural research and development for improved food, income and nutrition security”. The call for papers opens July 1st and runs through the end of the year. More information can be found here: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/agricultural-systems/call-forpapers/call-for-submissions-to-a-special-issue-scienceof-scaling-c.

Guest Editors include Prof Cees Leeuwis of Wageningen University, Dr. Marc Schut of IITA and Graham Thiele of RTB. Please direct your questions and queries to Dr. Marc Schut ([email protected]).

Early Childhood Development

Toward High-Quality Early Childhood Development Programs and Policies at National Scale— Directions for Research in Global Contexts:  In their article Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Alice J. Wuermli, New York University Abbie Raikes, University of Nebraska Sharon Kim and Sarah B. Kabay, New York University that with decades of evidence to support early childhood development (ECD) programs and policies, investment in ECD has expanded worldwide. Currently, over 70 nations have national ECD legislation, the majority in the last 20 years. However, with these increased investments comes evidence that the capacity of policy systems to support ECD – across health, education, social protection, and other sectors – is weak, with unfulfilled developmental potential a serious consequence within and across countries. This report aims to develop a research agenda on the systems-level factors – that may enable or constrain program site-level implementation. Two types of scale – “small to bigger” and “big to better” – are described, as well as the specific challenges of these processes in the field of ECD. Systems factors are reviewed at the three levels, with implications of each for measurement. Finally, methodological challenges and directions are discussed with the aim of informing a research agenda to support national policy progress in early childhood development. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323538647_ Toward_High-Quality_Early_Childhood_Development_Programs_and_Policies_at_National_Scale_Directions_ for_Research_in_Global_Contexts

Maternal Health

Scaling Kangaroo Mother Care – The Final Phase: This blog reports on the final design phase of the Cameroon Newborn DIB, which will roll out Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), an evidence-based intervention that improves maternal and newborn health outcomes in low resource settings. This blog post reflects on our recent visit to Cameroon to begin paving the way for launch in a few months’ time. https://medium.com/social-finance-uk/scaling-kangaroo-mother-care-the-final-phasebb52f25926a

Renewable Energy

World Bank event – Laying the Ground Work for Scaling-Up Renewable Energy in China: China is the world’s leader in four of the five major renewable energy technologies: hydropower, solar, wind and biomass. How did China get there? Watch this very interesting discussion with experts from the Energy Global Practice, the Independent Evaluation Group, and the Global Environment Facility.

ture=youtu.be&ct=t%28EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_4_18_2018_ External%29

Sanitation

Social Finance UK – The role of outcomes-based funding in Scaling up sanitation enterprises:  Many sanitation enterprises working in low-income settings are, in theory, aiming for profitability. But, in practice, sanitation is a difficult business. We reflect on how we can scale-up – sustainably – low margin-high impact sanitation enterprises and orient these enterprises towards providing services for the lowest income groups.https://www.socialfinance.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/sanitation_enterprises_discussion_doc_ may_2018.pdf

Author

0 Comments

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

©2024 MSI

Log in with your credentials

Forgot your details?