This report, just released by the Alliance for Peacebuilding, examines a new approach to evaluation that is particularly appropriate for the complex environments in which peacebuilders usually work. The following is the Alliance's own description of the report, along with a link to obtain a full-text copy.
"[This report] takes stock of how adaptive management is currently being applied in peacebuilding contexts and makes recommendations for improvement. Effective peacebuilding programs must adjust and respond to the complex, fragile, and violent contexts they often operate in. Yet, current DM&E frameworks, including non-adaptive log frames and post-hoc evaluation methodologies, are often inflexible and ill-equipped to detect, diagnose, and respond to rapidly changing conflict dynamics. The peacebuilding evaluation field needs to adopt adaptive management as standard practice to ensure programs are equipped to make course changes and better reflect the complex realities in which they operate.
This report provides practical recommendations for applying adaptive management to peacebuilding programs based on a synthesis of ten case studies from interviews with subject matter experts. It examines how existing organizational programs are designing and learning from adaptive management in peacebuilding contexts and identifies changes essential for progress. The report makes three key recommendations for the peacebuilding field.
- Programs must integrate adaptive thinking and processes at the outset of program design.
- Programs must foster a culture that enables adaptive management through flexibility, trust, and comfort with adaptive thinking at all staff levels.
- The field must establish clear parameters and technical requirements for what constitutes adaptive management.
These findings make a landmark contribution to the peacebuilding evaluation field, helping to inform a field-wide shift toward more adaptive and learning focused peacebuilding DM&E."
.Download the full report here.
