Knowledge and learning in international development

As the international world adapts to new goals, new horizons, and new ways of working post-2015, the agencies, development partners, new donors, foundations and NGOs will need to ensure their often highly decentralised staff... [ view full abstract ]

As the international world adapts to new goals, new horizons, and new ways of working post-2015, the agencies, development partners, new donors, foundations and NGOs will need to ensure their often highly decentralised staff have useful working knowledge of the interlocking components of development assistance.

Until now, many specialist staff working in international agencies and NGOs had begun their working lives in developing countries. However, in 2015 and beyond, the number of personnel with this advantage and background will naturally begin to diminish! How can the agencies ensure they have qualified staff - whether managing programmes or providing technical advice - with knowledge and skills to work with partner governments and other agencies to develop and implement programmes of sustainable development?

This pop-up talk will demonstrate three examples from the field of agency staff capacity development: the design and building of modular, on-line learning about key aspects of education in development; different ways of encouraging widely dispersed staff to engage with the modules; and the design and production of knowledge synthesis papers to preserve and disseminate experience, lessons and evidence from real-world development practice.

The modular on-line approach, which is free from the tyranny of set times for learning, enables staff to pace and select their own programme of working. Printed versions and the knowledge papers provide 'just-in-time' resources for non-specialist staff facing key meetings with government and donor representatives. Did these resources help non-specialist staff feel more confident in doing this?