News from the Scaling Up Community of Practice

Annual Workshop 2023

The CoP’s Annual Workshop 2023 was held 23 January- 8 February, 2023 in a virtual format. We hosted three plenary sessions and eight working group sessions, as shown in the table below.

The eleven sessions, each 90 minutes in length, included presentations by 48 scaling practitioners and experts from a wide range of countries, professions, sectoral and thematic perspectives. The sessions were attended by over 900 participants from some 100 organizations in 77 countries. 70 percent of the participants were from the Global South.

For those who missed any of the 11 sessions, the summaries of the presentations and discussions are available in the “Proceedings” of the Workshop accompanying this Newsletter and posted on the CoP website here. And all the videos and PowerPoint slides can be found on the CoP website under each of the sessions.

Three of the sessions were held in “plenary format” addressing cross-cutting issues. The first plenary session focused on how scaling can be mainstreamed as a systematic practice in funder organizations. The second plenary session explored how digital technologies and solutions can assist the scaling process and what risk they give rise to. The third plenary session concluded the Workshop with an overview of key take aways from the preceding ten sessions and a discussion of the strategic directions of the Scaling Community of Practice.

The three plenary sessions bracketed sessions organized by eight of the CoP’s nine sectoral and thematic working groups.  These sessions, several of which involved deep dives into issues raised in the first two plenary sessions, explored scaling experience in education, health, agriculture and food security, climate change, youth employment, social enterprises, fragile states, and monitoring and evaluation. Panelists presented a rich set of specific cases encompassing a variety of approaches to support scaling and offered many insights into opportunities and challenges presented by a systematic approach to achieving development impact at scale. These sessions also yielded critical crosscutting insights across the full range of areas covered.

The Proceedings volume includes summaries for all the eleven sessions of the Workshop in the order in which they were held. The summaries only scratch the surface of the wealth of information and evidence provided by the panelists and by all participants in the lively discussions which characterized the Workshop. As noted above, video recordings of each session in its entirety and PowerPoint slides presented by the panelists can be found on the Annual Workshop page of the Scaling Community’s website.

Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, an esteemed colleague, entrepreneur, and scaling stalwart, reviewed the videos from the first 10 sessions and presented a set of summary observations as part of the closing plenary session.  Her observations were complemented by the comments of Jenny Perlman Robinson, who for many years led a pathbreaking research program on scaling education solutions as a Senior Fellow of the Brookings Center for Universal Education. Both of their contributions are summarized below.

Observations on the Annual Workshop 2023 of the Scaling Community of Practice

By Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, Co-founder and Executive Chair of Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition Ltd.

Ndidi Nwuneli noted how impressed she was with the insights from the 10 sessions of the Workshop and with the diversity of thoughts and shared ideas. She summarized her key takeaways under five headings.

1. Funders play a critical role in scaling.

Funders play a key role through actions or inaction, incentives or disincentives for scaling. But a number of obstacles get in the way of effective funder support. There is a lack of recognition of the importance of scaling among funders and a lack of common knowledge of what scaling means in different sectors and contexts. Moreover, funding instruments are generally designed for pilots and short term horizons, with limited interest and focus on medium/long-term consequences of interventions and on what happens after the funding is over. There is a common bias that favors funding innovation as opposed to scaling up existing models that work, compounded by a preference for funding short-term projects and by providing limited funding for human resource development, for policy engagement, and for monitoring and evaluation.

2. We face different challenges and questions for scaling in different sectors.

For education, the challenges explored in the session included: how to maintain quality as you scale; how to achieve equity across gender, marginalized communities, and fragile states; how to integrate new learning models leveraging technology to help scaling; and how to address mental health issues exacerbated by the pandemic?

For health: major issues explored in the session included: how to balance (a) treatment and prevention versus mitigation, (b) community versus facility-based interventions, (c) commercial and product based interventions versus public-sector driven solutions, and (d) reaching the largest population versus those most in need; how to involve communities in scaling; and how to shift from a supply to a demand driven approach?

For food systems: major issues discussed in the session included: how to balance the need for a systems approach with the practical need to minimize complexity; incorporating greater sophistication regarding stakeholder interests with needed alignment among partners, between government and local groups, and between policy reform and implementation?

For climate change: The session examined: ways to bring in financing to meet the huge financing needs; how to unlock public and private financing; how to leverage technology and who owns and pays for it; and how to ensure that climate action at scale helps as many people as possible?

Youth entrepreneurship/employment: The discussion centered on: how the IT revolution has affected labor markets for youth; how to maximize IT’s potential to make relevant employment opportunities and training available at reduced cost and able to reach more people; and how to deal with the changing dynamics of IT on entrepreneurship by the young?

3. The Workshop demonstrated eight key scaling “success factors”.

1. Shared goals and clear definitions for success and impact at scale must be established; scaling currently often means different things to different people.
2. A spectrum of patient, long-term, and appropriate financing instruments for scaling is needed.
3. An enabling policy environment is critical, but policy adoption is only the starting line, not the finish line – how policy is implemented matters; citizen support is needed to pressure governments to do the right thing and continue with scaling even when administrations change.
4. Cross-sector partnerships with a shared vision and goal are a vital factor in getting to scale for many interventions.
5. Engaged and capable intermediaries are needed to support scaling.
6. ICT, Big Data, and AI (artificial intelligence) have to be employed as leverage for scaling.
7. Transparent ME&L (monitoring, evaluation and learning) is a key ingredient all along the scaling pathway.
8. A focus on equity is needed throughout the process

4. Looking forward, three areas deserve special attention.

Research on scaling needs to continue on: how we learn/change/unlearn old habits; how we broaden our community; how we determine who needs to be at the table but isn’t?

People-centered scaling needs to be further developed: Who is important to the scaling agenda – the largest populations versus those most in need.

We need to focus on implementation for sustainable impact: why do we still have so many small projects that are being praised and yet aren’t going to scale; how can we hold all relevant actors accountable and put fire under their feet; who are the champions for change in the funding community?

5. In closing, Ndidi Nwuneli conveyed three messages.

We are the first generation to fully bear the brunt of climate change, and the last that can truly do anything about it; this is also true for a variety of other key development challenges.

It is important that we do not continue to say the same thing 10 years from now.

We need to go fast and far together, and we need to do so while incorporating humility, integrity and excellence into the DNA of scaling.

Closing Comments on the Annual Workshop 2023 of the Scaling Community of Practice

By Jenny Perlman Robinson, Non-Resident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution, Center for Universal Education

1. Reflecting on the past two weeks, it seems we are reaching greater clarity in the Community of Practice and beyond regarding what we mean by scaling. We’re making a lot of progress in identifying success factors and key principles behind scaling, i.e., the “what” that needs to be done to scale in a cost effective, sustainable way.
2. Moving forward, we need to shift from a focus on the “what” to a focus on the “how”,e., how to scale particular kinds of interventions in particular contexts. Catalyzing mind set shifts among policymakers and funders remains a critical challenge.
3. As the scaling field has evolved and shifted, it might be interesting to do a stock taking of the communities of practice in related fields of development practice to make sure the Scaling CoP is linked effectively to what is happening in related areas of enquiry and good practice.

Member News (in alphabetical order)

CARE (General)

“Modelling Catalytic Impact at CARE.” By CARE, December 2022. 

CARE has set an aspirational catalytic impact target of 200 million people. Catalytic impact is a new impact category that comes from Vision 2030’s focus on impact at scale. CARE defines catalytic impact as the “sustainable impact through the independent adoption or funding of solutions by governments, donors, the private sector, or open replication that originated with CARE and/or its partners”. This study presents an approach to measure and advance catalytic impact for CARE’s programs and draws lessons, based on case studies for application and further development.

https://careevaluations.org/wp-content/uploads/Catalytic_Report_Book_2.pdf

Contact: Caitlin Shannon (caitlin.shannon@care.org)

The Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship at Duke University (General)

“Why We Didn’t Fund Your Scaling Plan.” By Erin Worsham (CASE Executive Director) and Kimberly Bardy Langsam (CASE Senior Program Director). Stanford Social Innovation Review. 28 December 2022.

The authors pull back the curtain to share real reasons why your scaling plan didn’t get funded.  Building from years of research on the challenges of scaling social ventures, they name seven common concerns funders have identified when evaluating scaling plans, and how to fix them.

https://ssir.org/articles/entry/why_we_didnt_fund_your_scaling_plan

Contact: Kimberly Langsam (kimberly.langsam@duke.edu)

2023 Finalists of the Kirby Prize For Scaling Social Impact 

The Fred Morgan Kirby Prize for Scaling Social Impact awards one social enterprise a prize of $100,000 in unrestricted funding – fuel for organizations on the path to scaling their impact. Four finalists stood out among the 180 applications CASE received this year and are featured in a new series on the CASE website:

• Project Hello World works to solve two global challenges: the education deficit and the digital divide. Using a community-led model, they work in partnership to build “Hello Hubs” which provide durable tablets loaded with educational software, power to charge devices, and free wifi. Read more about Hello World’s flexible, community-led approach to impact.
• Kidogo is helping solve the global childcare crisis by addressing the dearth of quality, affordable childcare for low-income women in East Africa. Using a social franchising model, Kidogo offers training to entrepreneurial women (“Mamapreneurs”) to start or improve their childcare business. In turn, franchisees offer quality, affordable early childhood care for their communities. Learn how Kidogo plans to more than double the number of Mamapreneur franchisees by 2025
• Connecticut Veterans Legal Center (CVLC) operates in a medical-legal partnership with the Veterans Association (VA) in Connecticut to support veterans recovering from homelessness and mental illness to overcome legal barriers to housing, healthcare, and income. In particular, CVLC has been researching the racial disparities in Black veterans’ discharge status versus their counterparts, leading to ineligibility for VA benefits. Read more about how CVLC is helping create systemic change to eliminate racial discrimination in the discharge upgrade review process.
• Essmart bridges the gap between essential technology manufacturers and rural households in need of these services by creating a logistics chain and marketplace for these products in rural retail shops. Learn how Essmart is smartly leveraging technology and partnerships to scale their

CIMMYT (Agriculture)

“Capacity development for scaling conservation agriculture in smallholder farming systems in Latin America, South Asia, and Southern Africa: exposing the hidden levels.” By Lennart Woltering et al. Knowledge Management for Development Journal. Online first. 14 October 2022.  

Capacity development is a major pathway for research and development projects to scale innovations. However, both successful scaling and capacity development are held back by a persistent simplistic focus on ‘reaching more end-users’ and training at the individual level, respectively. This study provides examples of other levels of capacity development: the organizational, cooperation and enabling environment levels. Drawing on four projects implemented by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to scale conservation agriculture practices to smallholder farmers, the study discovered that these three other levels are  less understood,  appreciated and reported on than individual training. Aided by a modified framework with clear examples of various types of capacity development activities, project leaders were able to identify and uncover activities that pertain to each of the four levels of capacity development. The framework proposed in this paper can serve as a model for initiatives that aim to identify and address capacities at all four levels in order to contribute to largescale sustainable change.

https://km4djournal.org/index.php/km4dj/article/view/510

Contact: Lennart Woltering (l.woltering@cgiar.org)

Evidence to Action (Health)

“The Best Shot for Pregnant Women and Newborns.” By Zorica Radanovic. Blog, 6 February 2023.

Introducing HIV/syphilis dual tests, which cost just ~$0.15 more than HIV-only tests, would immediately increase syphilis testing such that it’s on par with existing HIV screening, and would thereby ensure millions more women are screened for syphilis every year. The blog provides insight into the successful multi-country expansion of a program promoted by Evidence to Action to systematically scale up the use of dual testing.

https://www.evidenceaction.org/the-best-shot-for-pregnant-women-and-newborns/

Contact: Adrienne Lee (adrienne.lee@evidenceaction.org)

ExpandNet (Health; general)

Developing scaling-up strategies in Francophone West Africa. 

ExpandNet member Dr. Cheikh Seck, based in Senegal, has been leading technical collaborations with the Gates Foundation-funded INSPiRE Project, currently underway in nine countries of Francophone West Africa. INSPiRE works to support government-led technical working groups (TWGs) in each country to lead a scaling-up process for an integrated package of family planning, nutrition, and maternal, newborn, and child health interventions that have proven to yield stronger outcomes when implemented together. In the last quarter, Dr. Seck worked with the INSPiRE Secretariat and the TWGs in Burkina Faso, Togo and Mali to revisit their existing action plans in light of the ExpandNet framework and nine step approach, an activity that the countries have reportedly found highly productive.

Development of Scale-up Learning Center (SLC) underway. 

Also this quarter, work has been underway in developing ExpandNet’s forthcoming Scale-up Learning Center (SLC) which will be an open-source learning platform to give access to public health and development professionals to key learning and experience from the application of systematic approaches to scale up. Once launched, anyone will be welcome to make use of the SLC modules and resources to the depth of their choice, including opting to go through the entire curriculum and obtain a certificate of completion. If you would like to be notified when the SLC has been launched, please visit ExpandNet’s website (www.expandnet.net) and sign up for the newsletter available at the bottom of every page.

Contact: Laura Ghiron (laura.ghiron@expandnet.net)

Fundación Baltazar y Nicolás (General)

Scaling up early childhood and family development interventions in Peru. 

The foundation is engaged in multiple projects designed to support scaling up of early childhood and family development interventions, including mental health.

• For a description of the Foundation’s programs see https://fundacionbaltazarynicolas.org/.

• For its publications see https://fundacionbaltazarynicolas.org/publications.

Contact: Rommy Rios (rommy@fundacionbyn.org)

Harvard Innovation Lab and Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship (Climate)

“Don’t Snail Scale Climate Tech.” By Rob Shelton. GreenBiz. Blog. 31 January 2023.

The author of this blog argues that climate tech action cannot wait. He recommends “FIRE”, a four-step diagnostic that he developed and refined over the past 10 years working with companies and accelerators around the world. It assesses a company’s Fit, Ingredients, Recipe and Execution and prepares the team for scaling by identifying and addressing potential issues before they impede growth. Conducting a FIRE assessment prepares an enterprise for scaling quickly, effectively and efficiently.

https://www.greenbiz.com/article/dont-snail-scale-climate-tech

Contact: Rob Shelton (shelton.rob@gmail.com)

Health Technical Working Group

Announcing the new Co-chair Dr Mojisola Odeku. 

The Health Technical Working Group (HTWG) is pleased to welcome its new co-chair, Dr. Mojisola Odeku. Dr. Odeku is a Senior Program Officer with the Program Advocacy and Communications team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Odeku is a leader in Nigeria’s reproductive health landscape, and a veteran public health physician. As former head of the Reproductive Health Program of the Federal Ministry of Health, her focus included family planning and adolescent reproductive health. She was Project Director of Phases I and II of the Nigeria Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (2009-2020) and has provided strategic guidance on executive boards of several notable national and international NGO’s working in reproductive and population program. Dr. Odeku has been a champion and practitioner of sustainable scale up throughout her career.

CoP Annual Workshop session on comparative perspectives on scale up in health. 

At the recent Scaling COP 2023 Annual Workshop, the HTWG hosted a session entitled, Perspectives on Scale Up In Key Global Health Areas: Malaria, HIV/AIDs, Child Health and Family Planning. The session represented the working group’s inaugural effort to broaden the focus beyond family planning and reproductive health where many members work by undertaking comparative analysis of these different health technical areas’ approaches to scaling. The HTWG session recording is now available, as are all the other session 2023 Annual Workshop recordings, via the CoP’s YouTube channel.

Contact: Laura Ghiron (laura.ghiron@expandnet.net)

Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), Deakin University, Australia (Health, nutrition)

“Complexities and Context of Scaling Up: A Qualitative Study of Stakeholder Perspectives of Scaling Physical Activity and Nutrition Interventions in Australia.” By Harriet Koorts et al. Public Health 10:771235. 3 March 2022

Scaling up population health interventions is a context-orientated, dynamic and multi-stakeholder process; understanding its influences is essential to enhance future scaling efforts. Using physical activity and nutrition interventions in Australia as case examples, the aim of this paper is to identify core influences involved in scaling up physical activity and nutrition interventions, and how these may differ by context and stakeholder.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ensxua3pNZuvd1kREQBZqzRSouZwcDLJWdMw6NG91Q/edit

“Tensions and Paradoxes of Scaling Up: A Critical Reflection on Physical Activity Promotion”. By Harriet Koorts et al. International Journal of Environmental research and Public Health 1 November 2022 19(21):14284.

Research into physical activity scale-up (through case-study analysis; evaluations of scale-up processes in implementation trials; and mapping the processes, strategies, and principles for scale-up) has identified barriers and facilitators to intervention expansion. This paper delves into stakeholders’ assumptions, processes and expectations of scaling up, and discusses the ways stakeholders contribute to desired or undesired outcomes. Through a lens of ‘tensions’ and ‘paradoxes’, the paper makes an original contribution to the scale-up literature that might influence current perspectives of scaling-up, provide future approaches for physical activity promotion, and contribute to understanding of dynamic of research-practice partnerships.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/21/14284

Contact: Harriet Koorts (koorts@deakin.edu.au)

International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) (General)

“Upping the game: adding costs to impacts, an introduction to the special issue on costing in the field of development effectiveness.” By Marie Gaarder and Johannes F. Linn. In Journal of Development Effectiveness, Volume 15, 2023 – Issue 1: Costing in the field of development effectiveness

Insufficient attention has been paid to the analysis of costs in impact evaluation and scaling. This editorial introduction sets the stage for six articles focusing on selected costing issues. The editorial notes that there remain additional aspects to costing not addressed in these journal articles which deserve further research, including costing issues related to scaling.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19439342.2023.2171062

Contact: Marie Gaarder (mgaarder@3ieimpact.org)

Lever for Change (General)

Tracking the scaling journey of four 100&Change finalists. 

In the world of philanthropy, the 100&Change competition stands out for its potential to catalyze meaningful solutions for some of the biggest problems of our time. Among the 1,904 impressive projects submitted in the inaugural round of the competition, four finalists stood out for their unique approach, strong partnerships, and vision for achieving impact. This series provides an update on these initiatives and their achievements over the past five years.

https://www.leverforchange.org/library/news-blogs/transformative-initiatives-changing-theworld-100change-impact-stories/

Nasarawa State GANC Program (Nigeria) (Health)

Scaling antenatal care in Nigeria.

Between 2016–2019 a cluster randomized controlled trial was carried out in Nigeria and Kenya to explore the effects of group antenatal care (G-ANC) on the quality of care and service utilization. The study demonstrated impressive results compared to standard individual antenatal care. Three states in Nigeria — Nasarawa, Kano and Kaduna — have now moved from research to practice with a project supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a local NGO, TA Connect.

Here is a video (episode 3) on Group ANC scaleup in several states Video Gallery – Welcome to TAConnect (taconnect-ng.org). The project provided technical assistance to the government to adopt, adapt and scale-up G-ANC in 104 health facilities in Nasarawa state. Research to support scaleup of G-ANC has shown findings similar to those achieved during the RCT with improvement in uptake and continuum of care. The study also explore the relationship between maintaining fidelity to the model and making adjustments to mirror real life setting and context.

Contact: Faith Ikpea (fikpea@gmail.com)

OECD Innovation for Development Facility (IDF) (General)

IDF set up a learning journey for the OECD i30 Group — a peer-learning network for the DAC members on development innovation — and partnered with OECD Evalnet, the OECD Results Community of Practice, and with the Scaling Community of Practice, Million Lives Collective, and the International Development Innovation Alliance. OEECD Gendernet, OECD Govnet, OECD Environment and the OECD Community of Practice on Poverty and Inequality also invited their members to join this learning journey. The first part of this journey consisted of three workshops to provide an overview of empirical experience and good practice, and to jointly identify suitable options for institutional change and  collaborative action to advance scaling together. Summaries of the three workshops are available on the links below.

https://www.idiainnovation.org/resources/oecd-scaling-learning-journeys-series-scalinginnovation-scaling-development-outcomes

https://www.idiainnovation.org/resources/oecd-scaling-learning-journeys-seriesstrengthening-institutional-capabilities-to-mainstream-scaling-in-development-agencies

https://www.idiainnovation.org/resources/oecd-scaling-learning-journeys-series-whatworks-to-design-and-manage-challenge-funds

Contact: Benjamin Kumpf (benjamin.kumpf@oecd.org)

SAWBO WhatsApp Group Network (Agriculture, health)

Scaling up Communities of Practice using African Palaver in SAWBO WhatsApp Group Network. 

Anne Namatsi Lutomia and Julia Bello-Bravo report that African palaver is a traditional method of conflict resolution and community decision-making that involves discussion and dialogue among community members to reach a consensus. This practice has been adapted to digital platforms such as Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO) WhatsApp groups, which serve as communities of practice on agriculture. In its agricultural WhatsApp groups, community members, who are often farmers, come together to share knowledge, ideas, and experiences on various agricultural topics. The African palaver method can be used in these groups to resolve conflicts that arise or to make decisions that affect the community.

The forte of using the African palaver method in these agricultural WhatsApp groups is that it fosters community engagement and promotes inclusivity. When used effectively, this method can promote dialogue and belongingness among community members, leading to better outcomes for all involved.

Contact: Anne Namatsi Lutomia (alutomia@purdue.edu)

Spring Impact (General)

Scaling Impact toolkit. 

Spring Impact has launched a new Scaling Impact Toolkit – an open-source resource providing missiondriven organizations and individuals with tools to navigate the journey to scale. Organized as practical, step-by-step guides, the tools help organizations identify, design, and implement the right strategies, models, and processes for taking solutions to scale.  Materials can be viewed at http://bit.ly/40HMIMj.

A non-negotiable for scale: tending to your organization. 

A proven solution and an ambitious strategy are key ingredients to scaling up. But ticking them off the list will not lead to impact at scale without attention to an additional, often overlooked element – a dynamic organizational model that fits scale. Sam Edom, Managing Consultant at Spring Impact, writes for Pioneers Post about the need to look inwards as well as outwards in your quest for game-changing impact at scale and pay careful, constant attention to your organizational model – how your organization runs day-today, what your norms are, your structures, your operational heartbeat.

https://www.pioneerspost.com/business-school/20230203/non-negotiable-scale-tendingyour-organisation (February 2023)

Systems change for social and ecological transformation. 

Increasingly, people are recognizing that our current economic system and business structures are not delivering a world that is ‘prosperous’ in the way we want to prosper. Ethical businesses already play a significant role in redefining what it means to create a better world and exist in harmony with nature. Likewise, non-profit organizations that focus on social impact should play an important role. Emma Colenbrander and Evelyn Henderson-Child from Spring Impact write about the need to think about our systems as social-ecological and recognize that nature is the concern of social impact makers too.

https://www.springimpact.org/2023/02/systems-change-for-social-and-ecologicaltransformation-putting-nature-at-the-heart-of-scaling-impact/ (no date)

Contact: Emma Colenbrander (emma@springimpact.org)

Systemic Innovation (General)

Systemic Innovation and GrowthAfrica are now working to conceptualize, design, and launch a scalable and replicable model for a data observatory for scaling commercial ventures in Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda. The data collaborative model aims to bring together key ecosystem actors to investigate how the best use of data supports East African venture growth whilst concurrently improving research infrastructure. The project runs from January 2023 to end December 2030.

https://www.africanscalecraft.com/data-insights-knowledge

Scot Walker and Belinda Bowling of Systemic Innovation also produced a comprehensive bibliography on scaling in Sub-Sahara Africa.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1V2pxP2woTiCALSlr7hzdeYa0ZuNEa9Bn5zCd1LVgNo/edit#gid=663145101

Contact: Scott Walker (scott@systemicinnovation.work)

The Education Partnership Centre (TEP) (Education)

TEP Centre is a key player in the foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) scene in Africa. In one of its active FLN programs, TEP is looking to establish a research-based rationale for Assessment Informed Instruction (A-I-I) as an effective pedagogical method for improving teaching and learning. This involves exploring and examining the limitations of traditional classroom instruction as well as the effect of formative assessments to improve teaching and learning. The study will also explore how A-I-I can be used to improve teaching and learning by strengthening pedagogical methods such as differentiation and teaching at the competency level of the child. TEP just concluded the baseline survey, which involved measuring current learning levels of children. TEP look forward to the next phase, which is the teacher training phase of the program.

Contact: Fredrick Osheku (fredrick.osheku@tepcentre.com)

UNHCR

UNHCR Humanitarian Education Accelerator. 

The Humanitarian Education Accelerator (HEA) was set up to support impactful education in emergency and protracted crises (EiEPC) and to support innovations to transition to scale. After seven years, three accelerator cohorts, and 21 innovation projects, the HEA is winding down, and is now sharing the global public goods produced through the accelerator. Publications include:

• HEA Learning Synthesis: This paper captures all of the valuable lessons learnt over the course of the HEA. It includes lessons learnt and recommendations for innovators, donors and other stakeholders, and current and future accelerators working in this space.
• Financing Scale of Humanitarian Education Innovations: This paper explores one of the biggest hurdles facing the scale of EiEPIC Innovations: financing. It looks at the sources and types of financing available, how to access them, how finances are most effectively spent, and makes recommendations to all stakeholders involved to improve the financial architecture and pipeline.
• Monitoring Evaluation and Learning Toolkit: This is a curated a toolkit of MEL Resources including guides and websites, with a focus on humanitarian contexts and scaling.
• Scaling case studies: These 2 page case studies capture the scaling journey of the HEA’s final cohort of innovation projects.
• Coming soon – Executive Summaries of the Evaluations of the Innovation Projects: The HEA commissioned rigorous external evaluations of the three innovation projects in the final cohort. This is in order to build up the evidence base of EiEPC innovations, and to help guide the innovations on their design and further scaling plans. The executive summaries of these evaluations will be published in March on the HEA website.

Contact: Kate Dodgson (dodgsonk@unhcr.org)

USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture (Agriculture)

Webinar Series: Innovating and Scaling for Social Transformation in International Food Systems.  

The four-week Innovating and Scaling for Social Transformations in International Food Systems webinar series is a part of a broader course that aims to explore the process of scaling and implementing innovative agricultural practices within the context of social differentiation and transformation. The topics covered in this webinar series include an introduction to scaling and agricultural innovation systems, examining the (in)equitable distribution of benefits while scaling innovation, and exploring ways to innovate for social outcomes. Throughout the series, participants learned about the challenges and opportunities associated with scaling agricultural innovations, with a particular emphasis on promoting social equity and transformative change within international food systems.

https://horticulture.ucdavis.edu/event/webinar-series-innovating-and-scaling-socialtransformation-international-food-systems

Additional Publications (by topic area)

General

“Journey to Sustainability and Scale with Government: Introduction to Stakeholder Alignment Workshop approach and materials.” By Village Reach, Spring Impact. 2022

https://www.villagereach.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Stakeholderpdf?mc_cid=d9fba1484c&mc_eid=6729ca5471

“An interactive tool to navigate towards government-owned solutions which have sustained impact at scale.” Spring Impact. No date.

https://www.springimpact.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/The-Journey-To-Scale-withGovernment-Interactive-Tool-1.pdf

“Scaling-up: Building, leading and sustaining rapid growth over time.” By Justin J.P. Jansen et al. Journal of Management Studies, 26 January 2023.

https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12910

“What a helpline for India’s elderly can teach nonprofits about scale.” By Saraswathi Padmanabhan and Tapan Das. IDR Blog, India Development Review. October 2022.

https://idronline.org/article/scale/what-a-helpline-for-indias-elderly-can-teach-nonprofitsabout-scale/?utm_source=India+Development+Review&utm_campaign=388262d3d2Issue_285_05_01_2023&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2be9adb876-388262d3d2-80778920

Health and family planning

“Emulating value-chains of fast-moving consumer goods to improve uptake of co-packaged ORS and zinc for childhood diarrhea: evaluation of the ColaLife trial.” By Ramchandani R, Berry S, Berry J, et al.  BMJ Innovations, Volume 8, Issue 3. 2022.

https://innovations.bmj.com/content/8/3/169

“Designing for Impact and Institutionalization: Applying Systems Thinking to Sustainable Postpartum Family Planning Approaches for First-Time Mothers in Bangladesh.” By Melanie Yahner et al. Global Health: Science and Practice, Volume 10, Number 5. 2022

https://www.ghspjournal.org/content/ghsp/10/5/e2200023.full.pdf

Microfinance

Small Loans, Big Dreams, 2022 Edition: Grameen Bank and the Microfinance Revolution in Bangladesh, America, and Beyond. By Alex Counts. Rivertown Books. 2022.

https://www.amazon.com/Small-Loans-Big-Dreams-2022/dp/1953943195?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1660572060&sr=11&linkCode=sl1&tag=alexcounts-20&linkId=ee28d2cbb6e5c11851d12393477b1b8b&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl  

Nutrition

“Learning from the Implementation of the Child Nutrition Program: A Mixed Methods Evaluation of Process.” By Emily DeLacey at al. Children (Basel). 2022 Dec 14, 9(12):1965.  

https://doi.org/10.3390/children9121965

“Knowledge base for social capital’s role in scaling social impact: A bibliometric analysis.” By Md. Fazla Mohiuddin, Ida Md. Yasin, Ahmed R. A. Latiff in Business Ethics, the Environment and Responsibility. 06 January 2023 

https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12513

Working Groups of the Scaling Up Community of Practice

The CoP hosts nine working groups (WGs). The names and e-mail addresses of the chairpersons are listed below. For more information on each working group and on how to join and contribute to a working group, please visit the CoP Website (www.scalingcommunityofpractice.com) or contact the respective chairperson(s).