Recommendations for global development donors

Collaborative Learning has increasingly become an important and effective approach in global development. As the development community works to shift to more locally-led development, support sustainable systems strengthening, and advance toward the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, Collaborative Learning provides a demand-driven, action-oriented learning approach that can support change agents in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) to accelerate progress toward their development goals. To increasingly integrate Collaborative Learning in development practice, we offer four recommendations for global development funders:

1. Connect Collaborative Learning with other forms of support.

CLNs can be the focus of a development effort or integrated as one of several approaches to technical assistance (TA). When integrated, there is increased potential to generate a coordinated, compounding effect that can lead to accelerated impact on the issues that country leaders are prioritizing.

CLNs can be especially effective at increasing the use of evidence in policy and implementation of solutions, while also strengthening local and regional ecosystems of expertise. With an increased appreciation of this value proposition, funders may be more likely to support CLNs alongside other TA approaches. For example, an “implementation learning approach” can pair country leaders with experts from other countries to provide coaching and tailored problem-solving support alongside collaborative learning on a cross-country learning agenda. Where possible, the implementation learning approach seeks to link to or integrate with in-country technical support and resources of development partners.

In addition, CLNs are uniquely well-positioned to support multi-funder initiatives designed to respond to country-driven investments. CLN approaches can align with TA funding, government investment, and membership contributions to advance development and country priorities. This bundling can work particularly well during ‘windows of opportunity’ when political commitment, government resources, and development funding are all aligned around a common purpose. Collaborative Learning opportunities have often been missed when the political economy for systems change is most opportune.

2. Invest in evaluating and demonstrating the long-term impact of Collaborative Learning

Systems- and population-level impacts of CLNs can take years to come to fruition. We have seen the power of CLNs in motivating country change agents; developing supportive action learning communities and ecosystems; building global knowledge; and contributing to policy and systems-level impacts in some countries. However, to demonstrate the sustainable development impact of CLNs, there must be long-term investments in Collaborative Learning that include greater support in developing and implementing robust measurement and learning strategies.

3. Build the bench of skilled collaborative learning facilitators, especially from LMICs

Facilitation is a critical skillset for Collaborative Learning, requiring a blend of technical knowledge and expertise and the art and skills of facilitation. Investing in developing skills for facilitation is not only important for implementing effective CLNs, but strong facilitation skills are critical, transferable skills for all development practitioners.

Moreover, LMIC change agents in government, policy research organizations, civil society, and private sector can be well-positioned to use facilitation skills to facilitate change processes in their countries, convene subnational CLNs, and increasingly, facilitate regional and global Collaborative Learning initiatives, bringing a much-needed blend of technical knowledge and contextual familiarity to support country progress.

Several resources exist to improve CLN facilitation skills, including a toolkit for JLN facilitators, and the Collaborative Learning e-Course — a free, open-access orientation program on Collaborative Learning.

These orientation programs are an essential foundation, but are insufficient. CLN facilitation requires practice, coaching, peer learning with other facilitators, adaptation, and continuous improvement and innovation. Many CLNs are investing in communities of practice (COPs) for facilitators to share experience, lessons, tips, and peer problem-solving support.

4. Increase investment in Collaborative Learning to accelerate progress on the SDGs

Funding a CLN is relatively inexpensive, but donors tend to favor short-term, country-specific technical assistance. However, as global development shifts toward more locally-led development, funders are increasingly recognizing the critical role of CLNs — that support many countries at once, leverage local and regional expertise and ecosystems, and can ultimately be enduring, impactful learning platforms that outlive short-term donor funding cycles.

CLNs require initial start-up funding, flexible funding to evolve and adapt, and sustainable core funding to mature and realize their full potential. Most CLNs start relatively small with seed funding, a theory of change, a small community of champions, a network coordinator or facilitator, a demand-driven learning agenda that also aligns with the donor’s priorities, and a proof of concept. As the network grows and matures, it gains some efficiency but also usually requires additional resources and longer-term, sustainable funding to serve a larger community. The network may need to invest in expanding its membership, offering more activities and learning opportunities, and building core management and facilitation functions like continuous demand-assessment, internal and external communications, and monitoring and evaluation.

While adequate, sustainable core funding is essential to a CLN, funding investments do not always have to take the form of large, multi-year grants. Funders can make meaningful smaller or shorter-term contributions by co-funding a specific CLN learning engagement, supporting a network-wide event, sponsoring a country or set of countries to engage in the network, or including CLN engagement within a technical assistance program or country investment.

Over time, a maturing CLN usually diversifies its funding mix and seeks to generate more member ownership and co-investment through direct and indirect member support for core network activities. While most CLNs still rely primarily on donor support, the global shift toward locally-led development may change this paradigm over time.