This presentation was held during the workshop on gathering evidence on social learning. The workshop was held on 16-17 June in London by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and many others, gathering about 40 participants. Learn more: http://ow.ly/y4HbN

1. CCSL M&E workshop : Evidence
gathering on social learning
Wiebke Förch, Philip Thornton, Liz Carlile
London
16 June 2014

2. 2
Over-arching objectives
1. To identify and test pro-poor adaptation and
mitigation technologies, practices, and policies for
food systems, adaptive capacity and rural livelihoods
2. To provide diagnosis and analysis that will ensure
cost effective investments, the inclusion of
agriculture in climate change policies, and the
inclusion of climate issues in agricultural policies,
from the sub-national to the global level

3. How CCAFS operates
• Network of 21 CCAFS research sites in 5 regions
• Working with 15 CGIAR research centres and a multitude of local,
regional and international partners
• Using climate smart villages as test beds for suites of adaptation and
mitigation technologies and policies

4. Flagship 1: Climate-smart practices
1 Improved technologies and practices for climate-smart
agriculture
2 Methods, approaches
and capacity for local
adaptation planning
3 Innovative
mechanisms for scaling
up and out, including
building local capacity to
innovate

5. Flagship 2: Climate Information Services and
Climate-Informed Safety Nets
1. Methods for seasonal agricultural
prediction and early warning
2. Methods for communicating
climate information and
advisories
3. Climate-informed safety nets for
dealing with impacts of climate
shocks on food security
4. Climate-informed insurance
programs that benefit women
and men farmers

6. Flagship 3: Low-emissions agricultural
development
1 Measurement of small-scale farming emissions
2 Tools and approaches to assess mitigation options
3 Support to national low emissions development plans
and finance (e.g. NAMAs)
4 Improving innovation
systems for mitigation
5 Information systems and
analysis supporting
sustainable commodity
initiatives

7. Flagship 4: Policies and institutions for resilient
food systems
1 Data, models and scenarios to understand impacts of climate
change
2 Decision support tools for targeting policy development and
making investment choices
3 Analysis of strengths and
weaknesses of current and
emerging policy
4 Analysis and experimentation
concerning novel decision-making
processes

8. FP 1: Climate-
smart practices
FP 2: Climate
information
services and
climate-informed
safety nets
FP 3: Low
emissions
development
FP 4: Policies and
institutions for a
resilient food
system
20 million farmers have transformed
their agricultural practices to be
climate-smart
Build the resilience of 10 million
farmers to climate-related risk
Contributions to Intermediate
Development Outcomes (IDOs)
25 countries will have enabling
agricultural, climate change and food
security policies, with a 50% increase in
investments
20% reduction of GHG emissions
while enhancing food security in at
least seven countries

9. Social learning approaches can:
• contribute to smarter, more effective research-for-development
institutions vis-à-vis performance and governance
• help them to achieve more sustainable results, measured as
development outcomes
But:
• Evidence on the impact of social learning approaches on “hard”
development outcomes?
• Costs of social learning approaches compared with other approaches,
including high perceived transaction costs?
• Ability to replicate and scale out results more broadly?
 Assemble an evidence base with some empirical rigour, using a
common evaluative framework to track new initiatives from different
institutional settings that incorporate social learning approaches
Why do we need a social learning
evidence base?

10. Social
Learning
Framework
and Toolkit
1 Taking stock
Baselines, evaluations
• Introductory guidance
• Self-assessment
• Decision-support tree
2 Assessing options
Guidance & resources
• Toolkit and approaches
• Case studies on specific solutions
• Protocols for monitoring &
evaluation
3 Getting it right
Gathering feedback and
moving forward
• Drawing on existing communities
of practice and networks
• Guidance on engagement tools
• Facilitation and engagement
helpdesk
4 Gathering evidence
Documentation and data
gathering
• M&E documentation tools, forms
and protocols
• Examples and case studies of M&E
documentation
5 Analysing the
evidence
Analysis and action
• Identifying insights and actions
• Convening learning and
exchange events across cases
6 Dissemination
Communicating results
• Reports, articles, learning &
policy briefs, blogs,
• Archiving the evidence and
making it openly available
An evaluative framework for assembling an evidence
base on the impacts of social learning
CCSL, 2013

11. • To get buy-in and clarity on the workstream we are undertaking
with participating projects and to introduce them to each other
• To build an agreed framework together for gathering the
evidence: key criteria, indicators, workplan
• Testing our framework against some reflections or principles
from a body of experts
• Timelines and guiding principles for how we will collate and
share the growing body of evidence as we go forward
Participants: CCSL members, project participants, specialist friends
Workshop objectives and outcomes

12. • Co-develop a framework for monitoring and evaluating
the SL components in our projects
• Apply the framework to collectively build a body of robust
evidence about the conditions under which SL approaches
are effective, replicable and/or scalable, sustainable
Where do we want to get to?
Improved understanding of what
SL can offer for adaptation, risk
management & mitigation across
contexts
Based on evidence, engage
international organisations,
governments, etc. to provide
more favorable institutional
environments that foster SL

13. w.foerch@cgiar.org
p.thornton@cgiar.org
Climate Change and Social Learning (CCSL)
http://ccsl.wikispaces.com/
CCAFS website
http://ccafs.cgiar.org/social-learning-and-climate-change