Effectiveness, knowledge management and successful learning in development cooperation

Project description

The research project investigates how the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development exerts reform pressures for results reporting and results orientation in development cooperation. In addition, the project researches which role knowledge management and institutional learning plays across different organisations in determining overall developmental effectiveness, in order to draw lessons for German development cooperation.

The following issues are examined in three main areas:

1. Results-based management in development cooperation and standard indicators: Development organisations increasingly adopt standard indicators to measure their contribution to the SDGs. The research project analyses which criteria can be used for selecting standard indicators und which international experiences exist regarding results measurement and the use of SDG indicators for results reporting.
2. Systematic knowledge management and institutional learning: The research in this area is structured in three parts.  The project analyses (I) overarching questions regarding the relationships between knowledge management, learning and effectiveness, including through investigating organisational cultures and processes, (II) comparisons between development cooperation and other policy areas and organisational fields (III)  innovative and alternative approaches (such as „Adaptive Development“, „Doing Development Differently“, „Thinking and Working Politically“, „Problem-driven iterative Adaptation“) in the management of development organisations.
3. Development effectiveness evaluations and research on the organisational level for different development actors: The project studies how development organisations use evaluations and research at the organisational level towards improving evidence-based policymaking.

Publications

• Learning from KfW’s ex-post evaluations? How conflicting objectives can limit their usefulness
  Dörrbecker, Nicola M.(2023)
  Discussion Paper 14/2023
• What have we learned about learning? Unpacking the relationship between knowledge and organisational change in development agencies
  Yanguas, Pablo(2021)
  Discussion Paper 9/2021
• Eine integrierte Perspektive auf die Wirksamkeit von Entwicklungszusammenarbeit
  Janus, Heiner / Paul Marschall / Hannes Öhler(2020)
  Analysen und Stellungnahmen 11/2020
• Bridging the gaps: an integrated approach to assessing aid effectiveness
  Janus, Heiner / Paul Marschall / Hannes Öhler(2020)
  Briefing Paper 12/2020

Events

Comparing Aid Agencies’ Bureaucratic Politics and Practices

Accountability keywords