WEBINARS
Through its webinars, the SCoP brings together global experts to share evidence, experiences, and practical insights on scaling impact. Browse this page for summaries of previous sessions, speaker information, and on‑demand recordings.
From Integration to Prosperity: How Social Capital Transforms Agricultural Social Enterprises
Social enterprises, through their combination of social mission and business approach, offer a unique point of entry into tackling scaling challenges in agriculture, particularly for groups such as smallholder farmers, youth, and women. Through innovative models, social enterprises can drive adoption in rural communities through financing and logistical networks, building more resilient, prosperous communities. Evidence shows that social enterprise can advance scale in agriculture. However, the effectiveness of these enterprises largely depends on the institutional ecosystem in which they operate. Studies of farmers’ producer organizations and cooperatives across South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa show that while farmers’ producer organizations and ...
Sustainable Impact at Scale – FFD4
This FfD4 hybrid side-event—co-hosted by AFD and the Scaling Community of Practice—gathered development leaders, funders, and implementers to tackle one big question: how to achieve impact at scale in a world of shrinking aid budgets. Rather than pilot after pilot, speakers called for systemic change: long-term, locally-owned, evidence-based scaling strategies embedded in institutions from day one. We have eight takeaways: Stop stacking pilots. The international development sector is a “junkyard of pilots”—solutions must be designed from the start to scale, not as afterthoughts. Governments must lead. Donors should stop expecting governments to adopt solutions late in the game. Local ownership ...
Mainstreaming Scaling in CGIAR – Insights from IPSR, Portfolio Monitoring, and Scaling for Impact
This CGIAR Mainstreaming Scaling Webinar presents three integrated approaches that are shaping how innovation scaling is embedded across CGIAR research and implementation. First, it introduces the Scaling Readiness approached —developed in the late 2010s and now applied to >1000 of CGIAR innovations to clarify scaling intent, assess readiness, identify bottlenecks, and engage scaling partners. Second, it explores CGIAR’s Innovation Portfolio Monitoring and Management system, which uses Scaling Readiness data to track innovation maturity and scaling progress within a robust performance framework. Third, the session presents Scaling for Impact (S4I), a new five-year CGIAR initiative aimed at scaling priority innovations while ...
Scaling and Best Practices on New Policy Guidance from the OECD Development Assistance Committee
Description Times are turbulent, to put it mildly. Last year, the UN’s Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2024 puts the SDG investment and financing gaps at between USD 2.5 trillion and USD 4 trillion annually. This was evidently before further financing cuts hit the development cooperation sector. Given the uncertainty that is likely to prevail for some time and the sums involved, closing these gaps entirely with additional financing is unlikely. More finance must be coupled with a more effective use of resources. Specifically, effective scaling: increasing the reach and impact of an innovation or solution to create sustained positive ...
Imagining an Innovation Journey Without Silicon Valley Pilots
Description Instead of relying on traditional innovation ""pilots,"" what if we began the journey to scale by focusing on complete systems? A growing body of research shows that successful real-world innovations require innovators to weave diverse elements into complex systems. Yet for years the Silicon Valley inspired approach to pilots has generated hosts of small, short term projects that struggle to make the leap to fully realized systems. We are seeing a different strategy emerging. Grant makers and innovators working in both humanitarian and development contexts are embracing of the complexity of their system challenges right up front. This talk ...
Scaling Climate and Development Action “Lessons from the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF) and Aim4Scale
Description Accurate weather and climate predictions are essential for effective climate action and sustainable development. However, many Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States lack the necessary weather observation infrastructure to contribute critical data to the global system. To address this gap, the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF) was launched in 2022 as an innovative financing mechanism to strengthen weather observation networks where they are needed most. A recent review recognized SOFF as a textbook example of a successful scaling approach, one that offers valuable insights for broader climate and development initiatives. The Aim4Scale Initiative was announced at COP28 ...
CRS’s Experience in Catalyzing Scale Mindset and Organizational Shift
Description CRS aims to catalyze humanitarian and development outcomes at scale by collaborating with, convening, and accompanying a variety of stakeholders within systems to support local actors to achieve humanitarian and development outcomes that are equitable, inclusive, and at the scale that is appropriate for the size of the problem. Catalyzing scale is one of the four pillars of CRS's strategy: Vision 2030 - In their Own Hands. The webinar shares CRS’s journey so far to institutionalize scale across the agency. This organizational shift came from years of reflection and strategic decisions aimed at addressing systemic challenges more effectively. The ...
Insights from COP29: Where do we go from here on Scaling Climate Finance?
Description Join us for an engaging one-hour session as we delve into the key outcomes of COP29, focusing on the landmark decision to increase global climate financing from $100 billion to $300 billion annually. Despite this significant step forward, a recent report by Amar Bhattacharya, Vera Songwe, and Nicholas Stern highlights that external financing needs—including international public, private, and other sources—are projected to reach $1.3 trillion annually by 2035. What does this new commitment mean in the context of the broader financing gap? And what innovative solutions or mechanisms are required to scale up investments to meet global climate goals? ...
Mainstreaming Scaling with the Syngenta Foundation: Lessons from a Small Agri-Food Foundation
Description The Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) is a small foundation based in Basel, Switzerland that develops and scales sustainable innovation in smallholder agri-food systems. SFSA has been primarily an implementing foundation that bridges the gap between research on innovations and their adoption for use by smallholders. SFSA focuses mainly on developing sustainable entrepreneurship and enterprise models that are scalable through private sector commercial pathways. Funded historically by Syngenta Group and increasingly other donors, SFSA has supported innovative models in Agriservices, Insurance and Seeds. In an iterative and adaptive management approach, SFSA has integrated scaling into its project design ...
Mainstreaming Scaling with Grand Challenges Canada
Description Since inception, Grand Challenges Canada (GCC) has been pursuing a deliberate strategy in the pursuit of sustainable impact at scale. The recently completed case study of GCC's effort to systematically mainstream scaling documents GCC's journey of integrating a scaling perspective into its funding approach to date and its plans for the future. A distinguished panel of experts and practitioners will discuss the GCC experience and lessons for the development community on how best to support scaling of successful development innovations. The GCC case study is part of a two-year action research initiative of the Scaling Community of Practice on ...
