State engagement – assessing capacity: a seminar on problem driven iterative adaptation (PDIA)
The Wellbeing Research Centre is organising a half-day seminar on the topic of state engagement and the assessment of capacity using the PDIA approach for Thursday May 17th, 2018 on the University’s Kensington campus.* Registration is from 0930 and the seminar starts as 1005.
The seminar draws on the expertise of practitioners, consultants and academics to understand what is understood by state engagement and our ability to assess its impact and influence. The 5 papers explore a variety of interlinked themes such as: why the traditional approach to capacity building has been discredited, and what has replaced it; examples of the application of PDIA in different developing countries by drawing on both experience and literature; the role of Outcome Mapping (OM), as developed by the International Development Research Centre, to help make sense of how policy may be influenced. The use of OM will be seen within the context of the ODI’s Research and Policy in Development (RAPID) programme. Another paper will attempt to make sense of the Cambiemos government in Argentina through the lens of the PDIA; the final paper will focus on assessing the value of the PDIA approach in assessing the adoption of conditional cash transfers in Turkey.
The seminar is aimed at those interested in advocacy, evaluation and policy influence from a variety of perspectives as outlined above.
The full list of papers and speakers is as follows:
- Keynote: Dr. Marcus Cox (Agulhas, Applied Knowledge), “Bringing politics into capacity building: how far have we come?”
- Peter Grant (Agulhas, Applied Knowledge/Restored/Richmond University Visiting Professor), “Putting PDIA into practice – lessons from country case studies”.
- Simon Hearn (Overseas Development Institute), “Outcome mapping for planning and monitoring policy engagement and influence”.
- Christopher Wylde (Richmond University), “Making sense of the Cambiemos government in Argentina through PDIA?”
- Gokce Baykal (King’s College), “Testing PDIA Approach – Principles towards Adoption of Conditional Cash Transfers in Turkey”.
* Seminar room 106, Asa Briggs Hall, Richmond University, Ansdell Street, Kensington, London W8 5BN (Nearest tube station is High Street Kensington (a 5-6 minute walk to Briggs Hall)’
Please visit the Wellbeing Research Centre’s events blog for more detailed information on the seminar and precise timings.
