We’ve had a busy start to 2017 at the Centre for Development Impact.
We ran a short course at the Institute of the Development Studies on ‘Designing Effective Ways to Evaluate Impact’ and had a fantastic group of participants who enjoyed exploring alternative causal thinking and different design choices to address real-life evaluation challenges. The School of International Development at the University of East Anglia also held a course on Impact Evaluation for Evidence-Based Policy in Development. Participants appreciated rich discussions, imparting knowledge and gaining a deeper understanding of impact evaluation. Find out more about both these courses below and in our blog.
Over the last six months, we completed some action research with the Ghanaian Venture Capital Trust Fund. This looked at how African-based investors might better capture the social impact of their investments. We are now able to take this forward in a new research project on ‘increasing transparency in smallholder supply chains’.
In late 2016, we were at Wilton Park with colleagues from around the world discussing evaluation of 
the sustainable development goals at ‘Tracking development progress and evaluating development partnerships in the post-2015 era’.
- Five participants shared their views on where the SDGs will be in 2030
- Read our blog ‘Evaluation and the SDGs: where do we go from here?’
- Read the report
We continue our work on exploring the application of a range of approaches and evaluation designs for assessing the impact of complex development and policy interventions. Recent CDI seminars at IDS and UEA include:
Using process tracing to evaluate the impact of a mobile phone application for nutrition counselling in Indonesia with Inka Barnett (IDS) and Melanie Punton (Itad)
Choosing appropriate evaluation methods tool with Barbara Befani (independent)
Evaluating impact of business partnerships with Carrie Baptist (Save the Children)
Publications
Evaluation and Impact Investing: A Review of Methodologies to Assess Social Impact – This report highlights the paradox within impact investing: the prioritisation of ‘social impact’ without prioritising ‘impact evidence’
What Is Meant by “Replication” and Why Does It Encounter Resistance in Economics? – This paper discusses recent trends in the use of replications in economics.
Events
We’ve held two short courses over the last six months:
Designing Effective Ways to Evaluate Impact, 16th to 20th January 2017, IDS
Impact Evaluation for Evidence-Based Policy in Development, 27th March to 7th April, UEA
Don’t forget to have a look at our substantial archive of CDI Practice Papers, and keep an eye out for more published later on this year.
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