Page - (000083) - in Evaluating Climate Change Action for Sustainable Development

thinkingneeds to takeeffect for thewholeprograminorder toplan forandcapture outcomesmore effectively and include engagement and capacity enhancement as key strategic elements (Thorntonet al. 2014b).Asaconsequence, the ‘Knowledge intoAction’ themewas thenmainstreamedinto thewholeCCAFSprogramwith its four research andfive regional programs. The opportunity to trial an alternative approach ofRBMwas takenup enthusi- astically (Thornton et al. 2014b; Jost et al. 2014c). Theory of change, impact pathways and results-basedmanagement offer practicalmechanisms topotentially enhance program design and its monitoring, learning and evaluation and help CCAFS to create an operational programmanagement framework that is better suited to dealwith the complexities at hand. Closely linked to this, CCAFS and partners also started experimenting with learning-basedapproacheswithinR4Drecognizingtheneedtoincludemechanisms thatchallengebusinessasusualandsupport institutional learningandinnovation to ensure that research contributes to development outcomes, seeBox4.4. Box4.4:WhyLearning Learning-basedapproaches areuseful in supporting transformational change across institutionsandstakeholders.Onesuchapproachissocial learning.We understand social learning to be a facilitated process of planning, implementing, reflecting, and adapting. It can effectively foster an institu- tional learningcultureandpavethewayforclimateresilientfoodsystemsand sustainable development outcomes. For more information see Kristjanson et al. (2014), Gonsalves (2013), and Harvey et al. (2013) and ccafs.cgiar. org/social-learning-and-climate-change. 4.7 TrialingResults-BasedManagement inCCAFS CCAFSdecided to trial a RBMapproach for one of its research themes,Policies andinstitutions forclimate-resilient foodsystems, fast-tracking theextensionphase for this particular theme.Anewportfolio of sixmultiannual regional projectswas set up and thesewere each tasked from the beginningwith designing their project using a TOCapproach (Schuetz et al. 2014a). TOC are key elements ofCCAFS’ approach toRBM. There is no singledefinitionof aTOCandnosetmethodology, as the approach assumes flexibility according to its respective user needs (Vogel 2012). A TOC provides a detailed narrative description of an impact pathway (a logical causal chainfrominput toimpact,seeFig.4.3)andhowchangesareanticipatedtohappen, basedonunderlyingassumptionsbythepeoplewhoparticipatedindescribingthese trajectories. As such they provide an ex-ante impact assessment of a program’s anticipatedsuccess.TOCisat itsbestwhenitcombineslogical thinkingandcritical reflection; it is both process andproduct (Vogel 2012). 64 T.Schuetz et al.