Yogesh Bhatt

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Implementing a Framework for Action to Assess
Research Impacts

• Yogesh Bhatt
• International Water Management Institute

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Presentation Structure

• Introduction
• IWMIs Framework for Action to assess research
  impact
• IWMI Impact Typology
• From impact assessment to Knowledge sharing and
  Learning
• Case studies- SSI and MUS
• Conclusion

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Introduction

• Measuring the impact- complex and challenging
  process
• Increased demand from stakeholders, donors to
  demonstrate research impact
• Change in the way research is designed,
  implemented and assessed for research outcomes
• IWMIs work has, from inception, focused on
  having a positive impact on the activities and
  perspectives of policy makers, water managers and
  poor rural communities in developing countries
• Evidence of influencing policy and management
  decisions and impact on lives and livelihoods of
  farmers

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Conceptual pathways to IWMI impact
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Impact typology schematic

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Impact Typology
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Impact Typology
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Impact Typology
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Institutionalizing Impact

• IA Framework rolled out
• Generic set of indicators available for adoption
  depending on the type of projects
• 3 ex-post impact assessment studies commissioned
  (IMT, water use productivity and SCOR) to further
  understand timing, scope and responsibility of IA
  in research process
• Specific procedures for impact assessment have
  been laid out in IWMI Quality Management System
  (QMS)
• Lessons and knowledge sharing is increasingly
  being promoted (KFs, CoPs, Peer Assist, Friday
  Seminars, Learning logs, etc.)

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From IA to KS and Learning- challenges

• While we institutionalizes the IA Framework, we
  realized that-
• There is a strong need is to make sharing and
  learning an integral and continuous part of doing
  research
• KS should occur not after, but during research
  process.
• Researchers should engage and communicate with
  users early in the research design and carry on
  interacting through the project

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From IA to KS and Learning

• IWMI embarked on Knowledge Sharing (KS) in
  Research Pilot Project, which is part IWMI KCI
  and supported by CGIAR ICT-KM Program
• Goal to improve the impact of agricultural
  research for development through Knowledge
  Sharing approaches
• Objective of the project is to promote a culture
  of knowledge sharing and learning within the
  research by-
• Creating opportunities and spaces for the
  exchange of ideas and challenges related to KS in
  research
• Demonstrating the value of KS approaches through
  hands on experiences
• Nurturing the formation of a network of KS
  champions
• KS in IWMI occurs at 2 levels- KS among the
  researchers and KS between researchers and end
  users

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Knowledge Center Initiative at IWMI
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Case study 1

• Smallholder Systems Innovations for Integrated
  Watershed Management (SSI)

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The Program

• SSI addresses fundamental livelihood and
  environmental challenges in water scarcity prone
  agro-ecosystems in sub-Saharan Africa by filling
  fundamental knowledge gaps around rainfed
  agriculture using a multi-disciplinary approach
  and by feeding results into planning and
  management of natural resources
• SSI is implemented in South Africa and Tanzania

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Program component
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Challenges

• How to ensure that the research is integrated
  between scientific disciplines, between
  stakeholders and between scales and driven by
  real needs on the ground?
• How to ensure that the results of the research
  are fed into policy and development, not only in
  the locations of study, but beyond?
• How to systematically share the knowledge and
  learn from initiatives, such as the SSI program?
• To address these we designed an Outreach and
  Learning component in the SSI program

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Objectives

• Outreach Objectives
• To strengthen the SSI programme with an action
  research, outreach and learning component that
  operationalizes and contextualises lessons
  learned from the SSI research
• To disseminate research methodologies and
  knowledge generated from SSI with other water
  initiatives in Southern Africa
• Partners
• SSI outreach is coordinated by IWMI and
  implemented in collaboration with-
• Farmer Support Group (FSG) of the University of
  Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
• Soil-Water Management Research Group (SWMRG) of
  Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania

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Framework for Knowledge Sharing and Learning

• SSI adopts an Action Research Framework for
  Knowledge Sharing and Learning to establish
  research impact

Plan
Reflect
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Knowledge sharing within SSI program
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Strategy

• Strengthening participatory research within the
  SSI programme
• Capacity building of SSI researchers on
  Participatory Action Research and application of
  participatory approaches
• Building partnerships with local organizations
• Engaging stakeholders in meaningful research
• Facilitating learning processes
• Establishing appropriate learning platforms
  within the program
• Annual scientific workshops
• Outreach workshops
• Knowledge exchange and joint publications
• Conferences
• Web based knowledge sharing platforms
• Community of Practice (CoP)
• Establishing partnerships with water, food and
  environment initiatives

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Strategy

• Stakeholder involvement in Learning, Dialogue
  and Developing Knowledge Sharing Products (KSPs)
  for improved outreach
• Field Farmer Field Schools, Farmer Field days,
  Demonstration plots, Field Trainings and
  workshops, Learning visits, brochures, posters,
  leaflets and outreach through program partners
  networks
• Watershed Local multi-stakeholder dialogues,
  newsletters, material support in form of toolkits
  and guidelines to organizations involved in
  district and basin level planning and
  implementation
• Policy National policy dialogues, Policy Briefs,
  Research reports and Synthesis documents
• Scientific Community Scientific publications,
  Research reports, Synthesis documents, Capacity
  building material for post-graduate education and
  courses on IWRM, scientific conferences and
  workshops

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Strategy and Outcomes

• Exchanging lessons from SSI with other WFE
  programs
• SSI website http//www.unesco-ihe.org/mai (under
  revamp)
• Sharing knowledge in national, regional and
  international forums
• Using local, national and international media
• Expected outcomes
• Strengthened delivery integrated research outputs
  from the SSI programme
• Improved replicability of SSI research outputs
• Methods, tools, guidelines and learning
  strategies for development and policy initiatives
  on integrated water resource management
• Capacity building materials for use in education
  and training courses
• Policy briefs, fact sheets, and training
  materials targeting mid to senior level water
  managers in Southern Africa
• Contribution to global knowledge base on water,
  food and the environment

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Case study 2

• Models for implementing Multiple Use Water
  Systems for Enhanced Land and Water Productivity,
  Rural Livelihoods and Gender Equity
• (MUS)

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Program

• Multiple-Use Systems (MUS) is a partnership of
  professionals from the productive and domestic
  water sectors and from the research and
  implementation communities, focusing on
  multiple-use water services delivery as the most
  effective way to use water for poverty
  alleviation and gender equity. The goal is to
  enhance land and water productivity, improve
  rural livelihoods and promote gender equity
• Objectives
• New knowledge To generate new knowledge and
  synthesize existing knowledge into innovative
  models, guidelines, and tools that can be used
  for implementing and up-scaling multiple-use
  water systems to achieve positive impacts on the
  food security, income, work load, health and
  well-being of the poor, particularly of women and
  children, HIV/AIDS victims and youth- headed
  households
• Capacity building To engage, inform, prepare and
  strengthen the capacity of project partners and
  of other participants of Learning Alliances, to
  jointly promote a 100-fold wider implementation
  of multiple-use water supply systems after this
  project

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Strategy and location

• MUS project aims to meet its goals by combining
  action research with capacity building. In this
  action research process, a generic conceptual
  framework is developed as vision on effectively
  implementing and up-scaling of MUS approaches.
  This vision is tested in the 2-4 sites per
  country and critically evaluated in order to
  derive generic models, guidelines and tools

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Three-Wheel Action Research Framework
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Community level
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Intermediate level
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National level
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Learning Alliances for up-scaling promoting
multiple use systems

• A Learning Alliance is a structured platform of a
  range of partners in a particular geographic area
  with different concerns (those of the various end
  users) and capabilities (implementation,
  regulation, policy and legislation, research,
  learning, documentation and dissemination)
• It breaks down barriers to sharing of information
  and creates a means for negotiation and thus
  speeds up the process of identification,
  adaptation, and uptake of new innovations
• Working together in implementation and research
  within an alliance of practitioners, researchers,
  policy makers and activists will lead to greater
  impact and more potential to go to scale through
  development of-
• capacity of Learning Alliance members
• ownership of the concepts and process
• locally appropriate innovations

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Example of LA mapping matrix
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Creating a Learning Alliance (Moriarty, et.al.,
2005)
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What do we expect?

• The MUS project will, based on the experiences
  over the coming years, further elaborate on the
  principles and practices to promote Learning
  Alliances at various levels- analyze them to
  distil the generic features, summarize as
  field-tested guidelines and document case studies
  from different basins, documenting success,
  failures and lessons learned
• Learning Alliances will allow 100-fold up-scaling
  after the MUS-project because with LA's many more
  and a much wider range of people will be reached
  and because the concept of multiple use systems
  will be owned by the members and authorities
  rather than brought by an external driver, hence
  greater impact
• We have little facts to share at the moment,
  however the process to document and capture
  lessons has been initiated in five river basins.

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Conclusion

• We recognize that implementing an impact
  assessment program is a multi-staged and
  multi-dimensional process and will involve both
  qualitative as well as quantitative analysis, not
  only of the evaluation findings but also of the
  process of establishing impact at IWMI
• Projects are increasingly adopting PAR framework
  to enhance KS, stakeholder involvement and
  Dialogue
• Projects are increasingly utilizing the impact
  typology to establish their impact plans at the
  design stage and some are field-testing the
  suggested impact typology

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Conclusion

• Learning from the success and failures is
  actively promoted through KS workshops, Friday
  seminars, Thematic CoPs, Knowledge Fairs,
  informal peer assist sessions, and is becoming a
  part of the Knowledge Sharing culture at IWMI
• Identified set of pilot projects are taking up
  process documentation to establish the
  effectiveness of KS approaches in establishing
  the impact of research on the ground
• With the growing impact and learning culture in
  IWMI, we are confident that we will make
  significant progress in establishment of a
  effective impact assessment program at IWMI and
  will soon have valuable lessons to share.

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• Thank You!