Scaling and Best Practices on New Policy Guidance from the OECD Development Assistance Committee

About the session

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 change relative to the size of the problem.

In December last year, the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) approved the ‘DAC Guidance on Scaling Development Outcomes’. This policy guidance is not legally binding and whether it will have positive effects depends on the active engagement of change-makers. Change-makers within DAC member institutions, within organisations that receive funding from DAC members and colleagues who work in the sector.

This seminar targets development professionals who are interested in advancing change in the sector to enhance scaling practices. Join this conversation to:

Obtain an overview of the new DAC Guidance document;
Learn how colleagues in DAC member institutions are starting to use this Guidance to advance reforms and new ways of working;
Exchange with funders and scaling experts on how different players and different organisations might advance better scaling practices.

The webinar will interest policy makers, donors, foundations, researchers, and implementers working in agri-food systems and broader international development. It will showcase cutting-edge scaling science and highlight the opportunities and tensions of applying a stage-gate, product life-cycle approach to scaling within large decentralized research-for-development systems.

Speakers

Manuela Bärtschi

Manuela Bärtschi is a Research and Innovation Specialist at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) with a focus on scaling innovations for sustainable impact. In her current role she supports the transition of research findings and innovative solutions to scale. She has contributed to embedding scaling practices within development organizations, facilitated dialogue and learning on scaling approaches, and served as a member of the reference group for the OECD DAC Guidance on Scaling Development Outcomes.

Toon Driesen

Toon Driesen manages the Innovation Hub at Enabel, the Belgian Agency for International Cooperation. In his current role, Toon supports the transition from innovative pilot projects to impact at scale, focusing on scaling with and through the public sector in domains such as education, healthcare, and agriculture. With a background in bioscience engineering and development studies, Toon has worked for more than 10 years at the intersection of innovation and sustainability across Europe and Africa.

Benjamin Kumpf

Benjamin Kumpf is Head of the OECD Innovation for Development Facility. Previously he worked as Head of Innovation at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, as Innovation Facility Lead of the UN Development Programme and other posts with UN Volunteers, the CGIAR system and Germany’s GIZ. He teaches as Adjunct Professor at Columbia University and IE Madrid University and serves on several advisory boards related to development and humanitarian innovation.